Little Blessings

I have been blessed in sweet little ways so many times. Too many, actually to list here. But I’ll share a few.

One day at church, I found a $100 in my Bible that I later found out a good friend had snuck in there during worship. They knew we were having tight times and wanted to secretly bless us.

When I was younger, my Aunt Nancy heard about a bedding set I really loved. I’m not sure how she heard about it, but she did. One day, a big box arrived from UPS and it was addressed to me! I was so excited to find the bedding I’d been dreaming about inside. It had green and white leaves with pink flowers on one side and pink and white stripes on the other. To this day, I still get excited when UPS drives by.

Another day, I was sitting home and the doorbell rang. When I went to answer it, an envelope was taped to the door. Inside were a $100 and a note to buy my husband a birthday gift. I had shared that week at Bible study that his birthday was coming up and I was getting ideas for something to make him because we had no money. I have to admit, after this I stopped sharing when we were low on funds because I didn’t want people thinking I was asking for a gift! But the gesture was so incredibly kind I still cry to think of it.

More times than I can count, my mom has stopped by with bags of groceries for us. She comes by it naturally. When I was about five, my grandparents were babysitting us. My mom was a newly single working mom and they brought bags and bags of groceries and filled her cupboards and fridge when she was gone. I can still remember peeking in those brown paper bags and being so excited to pull out boxes of cereal. Man… that gets me every time.

A friend of mine who had the same surgery I had came by the day before my surgery and gave me a little pillow to put over my incision and some awesomely warm socks. I still use the pillow in the car for the seatbelt to go over and every time I look at it, I am reminded of her thoughtfulness.

Once, my stepmom bought me a big old pack of panties and the story is too embarrassing to share, but it was so simple and so sweet.

I always aspired to be the type of person who could do things like this, but after I stopped working, it seemed like we could no longer afford it.

Little Ideas

Yes, there are so many free ways to bless someone and brighten their day, and money really has nothing to do with it at all. Sometimes, though, you really just want to get something you see that reminds you of someone and you know will make them smile and feel special.

Maybe you know a single mom who would appreciate a certificate to get her nails done and an afternoon of babysitting.

Have you ever been out and seen a book you know would help a friend who is going through a rough time?

On your way to meet a friend and you’d love to surprise her with her favorite coffee?

Maybe there is an older woman at your church who always takes care of everyone. Wouldn’t you love to send her an anonymous little thank you bouquet of flowers?

A family that could use a grocery delivery? (I mentioned before, tithing your grocery money is a great way to incorporate this one)

A pastor’s wife that might like to find a little box of chocolates in her purse? (Or maybe sitting on top of her purse, depending on how familiar you are with her.)

Do you know someone who needs a big old pack of panties? Just checking.

Sometimes I have too many sweet ideas and my husband has to bring me back down to earth and our one-income situation down here.

So, I’ve found a simple, husband-approved way to afford little blessings like this without busting my budget and doing every little thing that pops into my head.

The (little) Big Idea

An envelope!

It says “Blessings” on the top right corner and I put a few dollars in it each time we get paid. Nothing major, but a little here and a little there adds up. That envelope does a couple things:

It gives me permission to act on some of my spontaneous ideas.

It keeps me grounded. When it is empty, if I want to bless someone I find a nice, free way to do it.

It reminds me. Sometimes, even I with the too-may-ideas syndrome, forget. I’ll get so busy with our schedule, our issues, our wants and needs, that I am blind to little things around us. Seeing the envelope in my wallet will remind me to look beyond ourselves.

Do you have a plan for little blessings?

Earlier in the week, I posted Storing and Organizing Photos: The Mess.

So, today I planned to post The Solution. However, time got away from me.

When organizing photos, it is impossible not to get distracted. Even if the photos were of folks I’d never met, I can’t help but get lost in them. I set some guidelines for myself as I began my task. I may or may not have obeyed them.

1. I will not stop every five minutes to write the 572 blog post ideas that are going to come up as I look through these photos. ( I only had 362 ideas.)

2. I will not cry over how thin and adorable I used to be. (There was no sobbing at least.)

3. I will not waste an hour or more analyzing pictures trying to pinpoint the exact date this wrinkle appeared. (Fifteen minutes, tops.)

4. I will not get mad that there are three thousand more pictures of my little brother than there are of me and prank call him. Yeah mom, I know. You didn’t have a camera when I was born. ( I did prank call him, but not because of this. Really.)

5. I will think like a man and compartmentalize. (I thought like a man and ate some beef.)

I’ll show you what I did with them all tomorrow. Really.

This post is linked to Friday Fails.

Because I just don’t share often enough about what a slacker I am, I’ve decided to go a little further and show you pictures. Pictures of pictures, actually.

I have no skill but lots of interest in photography. I have the interest partly because I am surrounded by gorgeous subjects and partly because I am terrified I will grow up and forget all the cool things we’ve ever done. I. Love. To. Document.

Everything.

I have no skill because I am too lazy to learn. Though I do fantasize about it. I even signed up for a photography class in ninth grade, but it was canceled due to lack of interest. I now blame my lack of skill on my fellow ninth grade slackers.

The majority of my photos are digital, so they are just cluttering up my hard drive, not my home. However, there are still a frighteningly large number of photos… pretty much everywhere. The disorganization disturbs my delicate psyche and is quite inconvenient when I’m hunting down a photo of myself at 19 to post here.

I’ve decided what with the spring cleaning craze going on right now and all, this week is the perfect time to tackle the photo situation. Except for the fact I have exactly zero bucks to spend on nifty storage solutions. But why dwell on the negatives? (Yes. Pun intended.)

Here’s what I have going on right now.

In my grandma’s hope chest I have hundreds of photos in boxes and albums (and a few ziploc bags) passed on to me from my dad and his parents. [Side note: Should I be offended when my dad gives me every remaining photo of my childhood because he no longer wants them? And all the cards I made him? No, he didn’t move into a nursing home.]

In a file drawer, I have somewhat more recent photos that I’ve had printed with honest good intentions to scrapbook them. But it’s been a while since I’ve scrapped. Because, you know. All my fun recreation time is spent here. These used to be spread around several drawers, so at least I’ve managed to corral them all into one drawer. Guess where I get my photos printed?

In my closet is a big messy bin of photos I intended to scrapbook a few years ago. With these, I even added appropriate stickers and die cuts that might make a pretty layout. Some of them are in complete collections, ready to go. I was less of a slacker then.

Also in my closet, a cardboard box with photos from I don’t know when. I’m too lazy to get a chair, climb up there, and find out. Yes, the box is upside down.

In my garage is another box filled with framed photos. This is because up until a couple of years ago, I had every square inch of my home filled with photos. Then the clutter of it all started to get to me, (delicate psyche and all) so I boxed a bunch up with the intention of rotating them every month. I’ll let you guess how many times I’ve rotated them. Are you starting to see where all my good intentions lead me?

Now that you’ve seen my mess, I am going to go find a solution. I’ll post what I come up with later this week.

I honestly intend to, anyway.

Related:
Too Many Books? Here’s One Solution.

photo by Deannster

So, I’ve not been too shy about admitting how deficient my attention span is. There are things one should do on a regular basis that just don’t cross my mind. Things like taking the laundry out of the washer and drying it before it turns into a science project.

While I have slowed life waaaay down, there are still the inevitable appointments and outings that come when you’re raising a family. On top of that, I make commitments, like a weekly book club chat or writing for other websites, that I am always afraid I’ll forget to do. All that time spent worrying about forgetting can really clog one’s brain.

This year, I have a new strategy for staying focused and not getting sucked in by time wasters. Google Calendar to the rescue! I am able to sync my online calendar to my blackberry. So I have a little Googleberry going on. Doesn’t that sound yummy? Like snozberries.

The function that has changed my life!

The calendar itself is pretty cool, but the part that is revolutionizing my life (revolutionizing, I tell you!) is the reminder function. The beautiful little ding that alerts me to an upcoming task or appointment. Google sends me reminders from anywhere from 5 minutes before to a few days before an event. If you don’t have a Blackberry or iPhone, no worries. You can still set your calendar to send you email alerts, text alerts, and pop-ups on your home computer.

I spent a good two hours the other week on Google and I set up my schedule. I entered in general times that I wanted to be reminded of something, like “Do chores” at 3pm daily. No matter how many awesome schedules I make, you would be surprised how many times a week 3pm comes and goes and I forget to get going on chores. Not anymore! My phone dings and off I go. Totally beats post-it notes all over my house or writing on the back of my hand. Don’t judge me.

Set up: It’s easy.

Enter in an event or task and have it repeat as often as you like with one click. So every Monday, until I tell it to stop, Google will send me a text message to remind me to log onto our book club chat at 4:45pm. I’ll also get an email earlier in the day and a pop up on my phone five minutes before the chat.

Sound excessive? For someone like me, it’s not. I could get the text at 4:45pm, open my laptop, and get distracted by my inbox. Normal people, like most of you, could probably do with one reminder.

That’s what’s awesome about this calendar, you make it work for you! I appreciate it so much that I have gotten into the habit of entering appointments the second I make them, right there at the dentist’s office or whatever. My phone will then sync to Google. While I hold a special place in my heart for the reminder function, being able to glance at my calendar and plans no matter where I am is pretty cool, too.

Of course, more than once in the last two weeks I’ve gotten the ding and looked down to see “Do chores!” or “Leave for gym!” and just plain ignored it. But at least I know I intentionally skipped things, instead of just being so frazzled and distracted that I forgot to do them. And yes, there is a difference.

Any downside?

I’ve heard reports that the calendar can crash and lose your stuff. I rest easy because I know my phone has most of the info, and I write all appointments on my paper calendar. I just can’t give up paper quite yet.

If there is a downside, it would be that I have to be attached to my phone. But this is already the case, I carry it in my pocket most days, or set it on the kitchen counter where I can hear from most anywhere in our little house.

Do you have any tips for staying on task?

Related: How to get motivated to clean your house.

[Note: This is part of my series on Creating a Homekeeping Book that I posted last year.]

Getting started:

• First, decide how many meals a day you’d like to plan. I originally left out snacks, and then started over when I realized I hadn’t bought snacks at the store. My plan includes: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner. We’re big snackers.
• Once you have your meals set, decide how many days per week you’ll plan for. I did seven days, but our weekend lunches, snacks, and Sunday breakfast are TBD (To be decided). That means whatever we have left in the fridge if we’re not out, which we often are on weekends.
• If it is possible, plan leftovers one night a week. We have leftovers on Fridays.
• If you eat out regularly, plan these times as well. We eat out on Saturdays. This comes from our grocery money, and fortunately for us our favorite food comes from a burrito place and is under twenty bucks. We usually bring food home for a family night, which ends up being even less expensive.

Gathering ideas:

Decide how many weeks you will plan. If you plan 13 weeks, you’ll repeat your menus just 4 times per year. Let’s say you’ll plan 13 weeks.

Now, start a blank sheet of lined paper for each meal you have selected. Decide for each meal how many ideas you’ll need per week.

For example, for breakfast, we have hot or cold cereal 3 days during the week, a hot breakfast once, and a bread like pancakes, muffins, or waffles once. On Saturdays, I plan a big breakfast.

So for my breakfast idea sheet, I only need to come up with 13 cheap and easy hot breakfasts for school days, 13 breads, and 13 bigger breakfasts for weekends. Only I don’t actually worry about coming up with 13 because I can repeat things. In fact, in my menus I have 9 hot breakfasts and breads for during the week. I do have 18 Saturday breakfasts, though, because there are so many recipes I love.

For Snacks, we will typically have one morning and one afternoon snack all week long. It’s cheaper that way, and easy. Mornings always include a fruit and afternoons a veggie. I don’t plan which fruits and veggies, I just buy what’s in season. So I only need 26 ideas for snacks: One morning and one afternoon. Of course, snacks are easily repeated, so if you can only think of 13 ideas, no problem!

Every lunch includes a veggie and a fruit. We have sandwiches 3 days during the week and one “hot lunch” a week. On Fridays, we have a “snack lunch,” which means I cut up a protein, a grain, and some fruits and veggies and put them on a plate. It’s just more fun that way.

My idea sheet for lunch will need 13 hot lunches only. On weekends, I don’t plan out lunches, we eat whatever’s around. For our snack lunch, I use little bits of leftovers.

Planning Dinners. Every dinner has a main dish, a side if needed and at least one veggie. I lead a Bible study every Monday evening, so our dinner has to be something easy. Every Sunday, we have a family dinner that takes a little longer to prepare and encourages sitting around the table for a while longer than usual.

For dinner, I actually put my ideas into categories, such as healthy fare, quick and cheap (for Mondays!), Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc. Think about what is important to your family and how you want to eat. This will help you later in planning menus.

So, for my idea sheet for dinner, I will plan 13 cheap and fast meals, 13 super-healthy meals, 13 ethnic meals, 13 chicken based dinners, and 13 Sunday family dinners that include a dessert and a couple yummy sides.

Where to find ideas? Get out all your cookbooks and magazines, look online, and ask your family for ideas. Especially consider family favorites! This may take a few days to complete. Finding 5 dinners a week for 13 weeks that meets your criteria is no small task.

One of my favorite sites is Kraft foods. They have lots of kid-friendly meals that take under 30 minutes. Another is Cooking Light.

Consider these things when filling in ideas:

Your budget

Your family’s likes and dislikes

Your health

The time you have for preparation

Now it’s time to spend some time gathering lots of ideas. Fill in all your blanks for each meal. Tomorrow, I will share how I plan each week out.

Read the complete series:
Homekeeping Book
Menu Planning Part 2
Shopping Lists, your Key to freedom
A Cleaning Plan for the Housekeeping challenged
Mini-Homekeeping Book for Girls