Happy New Year!

Hope all of you had a great Christmas and Christmas Eve! We will be celebrating our own Christmas tomorrow since weekends are a little easier for the offspring who live out of town. I’m almost ready, which is a major accomplishment since my to-do list has been overtaken, recently, by doing things for Compassion Counseling Center.

My 8th most favorite post of the year was one of the few “Lessons Learned” posts for 2014. Since the Lessons Learned posts were probably one of the biggest reasons I jumped “ship” at Facebook and started MIP, this seems ludicrous even to me, but MIP has taken some new twists and turns this year. This particular Lessons Learned is different from the others, but I think it’s different in a fun way. Go here to see what I mean.

My 7th most favorite post is pretty much the opposite of # 8 in that it was the first time I ever posted about some of the “essentials” of my life and what those items tell about my personality quirks. I hope that I will be able to do more of these in 2015 because most of you liked this debut. Go here to revisit What My Purse Says About Me.

Monday’s Post:  What is meed?

You Might Also Like: The 12 Days of MIP 2014: 10 & 9; The 12 Days of MIP 2014: 12 & 11; and The 12 Days of MIP: 12 & 11

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas, MIP readers! Thank you for “tuning in” here to read my posts. I know you have plenty of to occupy your time during the holidays without reading blog posts!

My 10th most favorite blog post of the year is probably one of your favorites, too. At least I get the most unsolicited comments for this MIP feature: Word of the Week. As most of you know, I go to the Word of the Day list at Merriam-Webster Online and create a list of words I don’t know. Then, I write the Word of the Week post on Mondays and offer silly guesses about what the definition for that word might be. The WOW feature is often a good way for this writer to remain humble–most of you know these words and I quite obviously don’t! See what I mean here.

While the WOW feature has been a part of MIP since it began, this feature is new this year: My Favorite Things. I pick out the favorite products, sites, and services in my life and in my home and tell why I like them. Most of you agreed that one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century has to be the evolution of Amazon.com and particularly their wish list feature. Go here to see why my holiday shopping is so much easier with Amazon.com on the job.

Friday’s Post: #8 and # 7!

You Might Also Like: The 12 Days of MIP 2014: 12 & 11; The 12 Days of MIP: 12 & 11; The 12 Days of MIP: 10 & 9; and The 12 Days of MIP: 8 & 7

Happy New Year!

For those who are relatively new to MIP, the “12 Days” series is my list of my favorite posts for the current year that would not be in the Most Popular Posts for the same time period. They are still the next most popular posts of the year with only one exception and I think you’ll enjoy this walk down Memory Lane as much as I do. Some are often seeing these posts for the first time because they missed the initial posting. By all means, if you are in the latter group, I would love to hear from you about your impressions of these. Leave a comment telling me the good, bad and indifferent of what lies ahead over the next few posts:

Number 12 on this list is due to a tradition that the “in-law family” has every few years. This enormous clan of 34 likes to take vacations together every few years and we like seeing new places.

When I decided to write the My Favorite Things feature on MIP, I wrote down a list of things, sites and organizations that definitely fit “the bill” for My Favorite Things. As I was perusing it today, I realized that the word “Samsung” is sprinkled throughout that list.

First, the hubby, son and I are all addicted to our Samsung Galaxy phones. The phones features are simple to use, making what was really complicated on my old cell phone a breeze. They seem to get excellent reception unless you’re in Bonga-Bongaland and even I, who was the last of the Razor flip-phones users can figure out how to easily do what I most need when I’m “on the run.” I do confess that I’ve never had an iPhone and if I did have one, I might wind up being addicted to that more than my Samsung. But, I don’t have to wait in lines to get the latest phone; I don’t have to take Xanax when the phone is updating its software and operating system, and in case you hadn’t noticed, even iPhone is making bigger, thinner phones to compete with ol’ Samsung.

Can you say that one of your favorite “things” is a church? Probably not, because God tells us that a church is a living, breathing “being.” But, I’m doing it anyway today. So there.

In 2007 my hubby and I were burned out Christians. We don’t easily transfer our membership from one church to another. To me, doing that is like saying you need a divorce. But, for a pile of reasons, we had to reluctantly say goodbye to a church that gave all 3 of our children a great foundation in Christianity. This church “walked with me” through the valley of the “shadow of death” during my first 2 heart attacks. I wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for some very caring members there. But, no matter how hard I tried to focus only on worshiping and serving the Lord there, it wasn’t happening. Finally, we made the painful decision to look for a new church.

I have to confess that the hubby’s busy schedule turned Sunday mornings into “date time” for us during this time. And thus, while I feel badly about this, we didn’t go to church anywhere for a long time. Not a great way to witness to your teenage children!

Thankfully, a dear friend began a contemporary service at a small church close to our home. He needed a keyboardist and he knew our daughter had some experience in that “realm.” He asked her if she would be willing to play at an early service at this small church and told her it was perfectly fine to continue to attend church at the church we had just left. Our daughter enthusiastically agreed.

Trying to be supportive parents, we went to the first service where she accompanied this newly-assembled group of musicians. And there I fell in love with some preaching by a new minister there. For starters, just about every sermon began with a hilarious story either about himself (and he didn’t make himself look pretty in that story) or “Little Johnny.” I don’t know if “Little Johnny” actually exists, but if he does, I need to pray overtime for his mother. The kid is a little stinker.

And then I fell in love with this minister’s family. All of them were just as talented as the patriarch of the family–each in their own way. And they worked tirelessly, generously, patiently, and lovingly to get out one message and one message alone–“All are welcome here.”

Many churches say this, but don’t really mean it. Pretty much everyone at Oakdale United Methodist Church really means this. People come to church, myself included, in blue jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops. If you want to dress up, that’s fine, but it’s also fine to wear shorts in the summertime. And Oakdale endorses “donut therapy.” Before our two church services, there is always coffee, decaf coffee, hot water for tea and a plethora of donuts. As we indulge our sweet tooth, many great conversations happen in our Fellowship Hall. (Quite a few hugs occur there, too.) But, it doesn’t end there.

This is the first church I’ve attended where it’s perfectly fine to bring those donuts and coffee with you to worship. Yes, you read that right. And trust me, I make full use of that rule. In fact, during our “greeting time,” I may run back for a second cup of coffee! We don’t care how you lived your “pre-Christian” life and we don’t even care if your views on Christianity differ from ours. We don’t care if you’re still questioning whether there’s a God in Heaven or not. Just be a part of some or all of what we’re doing and being. No judgments. Go to another church and only come to our church for an activity or two. Attend regularly and don’t join. Become a member and just soak up the teaching. Actively help and minister to those of us who are burned out or are confused about our place in this world or need some help. We just love you as Christ loves you.

Somehow, through the miraculous work of God, we have assembled a team of musicians that should be contestants on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice.” Don’t ask me how this happened. It just did. And many of the musicians are teenagers like my daughter. Just about when we think we have no replacements for the ones graduating and going on to college, a new talent rises up in their place. I just know that I can’t get through a service without at least one electric guitar solo now. And I’m rather fond of some of the percussionists in the band–one is my hubby and the other is my youngest son. Sometimes father and son even play together. We have one mean bass guitar player–and he’s a doctor. One of the electric guitarists is a lawyer. Go figure.

If you think small churches don’t make a difference, this small church started the local chapter of a program to feed “food insecure” children in our community. These children, for a variety of reasons, don’t have enough food to eat on the weekends and when school is out. This is true across America, but not publicly understood. These children rely upon school lunch and breakfast programs to get enough to eat each day. But because there is no school on the weekends, these children often do poorly in school the first few days of the following week.

The Backpack Buddies program allows school counselors to identify children in this situation. Then, through generous community donations, volunteers purchase food from an area food bank (all of which requires no cooking or refrigeration, including a unique kind of milk), load the food into backpacks, and deliver the backpacks to those school counselors. The children pick up the backpack from the school counselor on Fridays. This way no volunteers ever know the identity of the children needing these backpacks and the kids just look like they’re taking home their homework. It’s an effort to make them feel just like every other kid. This program is now providing food for over 110 children per week and the school districts are seeing improved school performance from these kids! And last summer we tried a pilot program to feed these same kids in the summertime.

But, Oakdale doesn’t stop there. They regularly make blankets and small kits of necessary items for people around the world. We have an OAK program (Organized Acts of Kindness) and you never know when a group of Oakdale members might be building a handicapped-accessible ramp for someone or helping with Habitat for Humanity or other projects in town that just need doing. There is always some need being worked on in our fellowship and probably more than one, particularly at this time of year. If there are angels to adopt, they are all adopted. The list is endless on how this church reaches out to others.

Oakdale members were the first to see a need for a nonprofit counseling center and said, “We have a building that’s not being used all the time; let’s do it!” Yesterday I spent the majority of my day creating “counseling rooms” and cleaning up the inevitable clutter that accumulates at all busy churches sooner or later. I don’t even want to discuss the current state of our choir room right now! And as each volunteer left to get on with their own busy days, another quickly took that person’s place and asked, “What can I do to help?” Today even more are expected. One member is a successful Pampered Chef consultant and she is creating a very ambitious schedule of fun and interactive displays and activities, all with the main focus of helping the Center.

I realize many of my readers can’t come to Oakdale, but oh, how I wish you could. If you do live close by, I invite you to visit. Be forewarned–your neck may get hugged and we’ll likely steer you towards the donuts.

Monday’s Post: What is a malversation?

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It’s about to get weird. I’m going to say something nice about Walmart.

This Yankee would seriously rejoice if Target ever came to our sleepy little town, but alas, we are just fortunate to have a tiny JC Penney and one giant Walmart. Thus, much of my everyday and weekly shopping takes place at the latter, whether I like it or not.

The only other game in town for a grocery store is a regional chain that I absolutely adore. There’s only one problem–they have the world’s smallest aisles and the longest checkout lines in the history of man. Despite several efforts on the part of the town and the local management to coax them into giving us one of their “Whole Foods” type stores, we are stuck with this seriously overused and tiny store. H-E-B? Are you listening over here???

Thus, I find myself shopping at Walmart because I just can’t take the claustrophobic nature and lack of selection at H-E-B anymore. But, Walmart does give me one thing that I probably won’t ever be able to get at their competitor–their Savings Catcher app.

This free app does a lot of stuff, but honestly, I don’t use the other features. I don’t even explore them. I just tap the Savings Catcher menu choice and “rock and roll.” When I get a register receipt from Walmart, I click my app, click Savings Catcher and scan the QR code (those square do-hickies that look like ancient video game pixels gone wrong) at the bottom of my receipt with my phone. Almost instantly, Savings Catcher tells me it’s got the entire contents of my receipt in my phone. And, if I want, it will show me the entire receipt in a much easier-to-read display on my phone. Why is this a good idea?

Because Savings Catcher instantly looks for the closest stores to me and compares the prices of all items on my receipt for lower prices at the close stores. Even though I live in a small town, Savings Catcher manages to compare 15 different stores in my area, including dollar stores and a pile of other places that I probably didn’t even know carried the items I bought.

It then sends an email to me telling me that it has my receipt and it’s comparing prices. They warn you that it may take 72 hours to do that. Then, I get another email that the comparison process is complete. If they found cheaper prices at another store, they offer to put the difference(s) on an e-gift card for me. With another click, it’s on an e-gift card!

I started using this app in August and I now have $ 15.47 saved on an e-gift card from 14 receipts. I will grant you that this is not going to buy me the BMW convertible I’ve been eyeing for forever, but it might buy a few stocking stuffers this Christmas. And they did the work for me–I didn’t clip coupons; didn’t have to remind myself how to get coupons on my phone, didn’t have to wait eons for a rebate and didn’t have to type in some promo code in some box. I generally stick the receipts in one of my bags and then when I unload the bags at home, get out my phone and scan the receipt then, so it’s pretty easy to remember to do.

Occasionally, Savings Catcher tells me it couldn’t find a cheaper price, but as you can see, I’m saving about a dollar per receipt with this new little habit of mine. In the beginning the QR reader often didn’t work, but I have noticed this less and less, so they must be working out the bugs rapidly. Even if the QR reader doesn’t work, you just type in the TC# on the receipt which is pretty close to the QR code block. For those of us getting older, you will need your reading glasses to read that, though! And finding my reading glasses sometimes is an effort! But, I’m enough of a Scot to go looking for them for this purpose.

I confess that I haven’t tried redeeming the e-gift card yet, but as I said, $ 15 can get used for stocking stuffers, so I plan on checking out this part of the “equation” soon. Have you tried Savings Catcher? If so, I’d love to hear what you think of it and how much you have saved. I’d particularly love to know if you’ve tried redeeming your e-gift card and how that went for you. Comment below to share your thoughts.

Yes, I suppose I could participate in Black Friday and save even more money, but if I think clipping coupons is too much work, do you really think I participate in Black Friday?

Monday’s Post: Can you pronounce adscititious?

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When I moved to “Small Town USA” in the early 1990s, the hubby and I pretty much dreaded the holiday season for one reason: it required us to get a sitter on the weekend (That can get pricey for 3 munchkins.) and travel an hour and 15 minutes (one way) to the northeast of us to embark on Christmas shopping at a Fort Worth suburban shopping mall. The first challenge upon arriving there, no matter the hour? Finding a vacant parking space.

Then, there was fighting huge crowds in every store we shopped. I vividly remember one foray into Bath and Body Works and waiting a full 45 minutes to buy stocking stuffers and candles. I’m still not sure that was worth the effort.

Part of the frustration was that our kids’ hand-scrawled Christmas wish lists were often misspelled or illegible. And they almost always wanted the one toy no one could ever get.

Last summer something crazy happened. A friend of ours was looking for dressers that she could purchase cheaply, then update so that they could be useful pieces of furniture in our home. I had two such dressers and invited her to come and take a look at them. As a young mother she looked at my mostly tidy home and said, “I’m never letting you in my home; yours is way too orderly!” I laughed. If she only knew. Back when I was her age, I was just as ashamed of my messy, dirty, should-be-condemned home as she probably was. What changed?

To be honest–the kids moved out! It’s much easier keeping a home tidy if you and your husband are the only residents most of the time!  But, even before we had kids, I was a messy, lackluster homemaker. Obviously, my habits and mindset have changed. How?

Flylady.net. That’s how.

FLY stands for “Finally Loving Yourself” and was created by Marla Cilley. She, herself, describes an unkempt home until she finally took “baby steps” to get not only her home in order, but her life. The first baby step? “Shine your sink.” This probably sounds counter-intuitive since messy homes really have much direr situations in our homes than just dirty sinks. In reality, it’s brilliant. Why?

In my case shining my sink involved me taking all the dirty dishes out of my sink first! And after I had cleaned my sink thoroughly and made it sparkle for the first time in years, there was absolutely no way that I was putting those stinky dishes back in my clean sink! Thus, without really thinking about it, I finally unloaded the clean dishes out of my dishwasher and reloaded my dishwasher. If you’re a neat freak, you probably don’t understand a dishwasher full of clean dishes, but if you have 3 or more kids and no hubby to help you with the “arsenic hours” of getting kids from one activity to the next, making dinner, supervising homework, ensuring bath time goes off without major floods and putting your kids to bed, then you know how difficult it can be to get the clean laundry out of the laundry room and into your drawers and closets and how difficult emptying a dishwasher becomes. 

And I had 3 very different kiddos at 3 very different ages of maturity who had all picked up my bad habits of not tidying up their own messes and creating good habits. So, I needed Flylady.net to help me get on track and do things responsibly. 

Flylady.net will send you daily emails to help you unlock the joy of having a tidy home you can actually invite people to see without 3 days advanced notice. When you no longer need the emails, you can “graduate” to merely consulting her web site for more complicated tasks. And Marla doesn’t stop there.

She feels finally loving yourself also involves doing at least 15 minutes of exercise every day and “saving dinner.” So, she has other organizational helpers on her site that help you conquer the nightly terror of planning decent, quick dinners for your family and helping you to begin to take care of your body. Her checklist style and “zone philosophy” just appeals to the detail side of my head. I find myself still printing off some of her lists when the house needs a top-to-bottom cleaning. 

I know what you’re thinking out there, you fellow messies! “Your home has NEVER been the disaster mine has.” Wrong. Once there was a ketchup stain stayed on my floor for a full 3 months and I never had the time to actually clean it up, even though it was solidifying on my floor like cement. It required a putty knife and a lot of elbow grease to clean it up. And no, not all parts of my home are presentable. The garages are still a disaster area and two of the kids’ bedrooms are still a work in progress, along with the hubby’s office, our bedroom, our bathroom and pretty much all the closets and drawers in the house. And don’t look in my refrigerator–there are still at least 2 science experiments growing in there at all times.  Most areas of the house are still ridiculously dusty because I still hate, hate, hate dusting. 

So, what has changed? My dishwasher gets emptied every day and reloaded every day. I can find the laundry room floor now and every week the laundry gets done from start to finish, including sheets and towels and laundered items either get put away or are neatly folded and hung in my laundry room. My living room is no longer wall-to-wall toys everywhere (and I have a large living room!). I banished those to the kids’ rooms a long time ago. I actually put out some seasonal decor now and put it away on time. 

The kids’ bathroom is now usually clean. (It was a huge science experiment once upon a time.) And the eldest son’s bedroom is now a beautiful guest room with a mostly cleaned out closet. It’s ready for guests with little effort now. And I exercise a full 99 minutes a day every day. (That’s as high as the treadmill will let me go, time-wise, and I am slowly working on training for a race some day.) I’ve lost 30 pounds and stopped eating everyone’s leftovers on the way to stacking up the dishes in that dirty sink. And clutter is starting to just irritate the stuffing out of me, so it’s getting easier to let go of stuff. The less stuff I have, the easier my life gets–all the way around. 

And miracle of all miracles–I am finally starting to love myself.

So much so, that I have developed my own system for working on the house as needed and no longer consult flylady.net religiously. And somehow I think Marla would like that. 

Thank you, Marla, for more than just a household organization system. Thank you for being so non-judgmental. Thank you for teaching me that taking care of my home is actually me taking care of me. 

Monday’s Post: How knackered are you?

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Did you read the title of this post and have this response? “Say what?” I’m not sure I agree with the brand naming for this product, but I like the product itself, so I honestly don’t care what they call it.

After my brother’s death, I gained some of my weight back. I’m not proud of that, but a variety of things occurred to help me pack on the pounds. And for the record, I never returned to the “overweight” category, but I got darn close. So, how did I start combating that? I decided to give myself the goal of running a 1K. For runners that probably sounds lame, but after 4 heart attacks and several visits to the ER for anaphylaxis, I think I have to be extremely cautious about this goal. On the other hand I needed a goal that would force me to change up my treadmill routine. I’m now up to 5 minutes of running. That, again, sounds lame, but if you also know I haven’t run since high school, then maybe it’s understandable that 5 minutes of running is monumental.

latte

If you followed my posts on FB prior to the start of MIP, then you know that I have been a long-time supporter of Keurig machines. I confess that I’m pretty picky about my coffee in the morning–it can’t be too strong or too weak; I prefer Hazelnut coffee to all other flavored versions; and any syrup or creamer additives can’t taste “cheap.” That last part is a standard offering at most fast food establishments and convenience stores, unfortunately.

Until the Keurig machine I couldn’t find a cheaper alternative to my favorite coffee place: Starbucks. The hubby calls Starbucks “Starcrooks” due to the excessive amount of money charged for a Hazelnut latte and I tend to agree with him. Thus, about the only time I allow myself this luxury is when my darling family gives me gift cards for my “hallowed” coffee shop.

That is, until I discovered Keurig machines.  And I happened upon them unexpectedly. In fact it was an accident. It was probably around 2007, but it may have been sooner, honestly!