Home Sanctuary

Small Things...Yeah! I'm a Believer!

This month has flown past, and as usual I've had more on my plate than I can possibly do.  The Small Thing challenges have been my own lifeline to hope.  I dream of living a life that's just a little bit more sane, a little bit more organized, a little bit more peaceful.  With each Small Thing, I've been able to take steps in the right direction and I've just loved having you girls along to keep me going.  You make me laugh and think and get excited about creating a Home Sanctuary for my family!

Can you believe it's already time to tally your scores for the month of February and report in for your chance to win prizes?  Oh yes it is, so let's get on with it!

Remember, there are two categories: Most Points and Company Girl Random Drawing. This month you'll be reporting in just a little bit differently than we did last time. 

You're going to do TWO things:

1) Leave a comment so everyone knows who participated.  To be eligible for the Random Drawing, you didn't have to keep track of points but you had to have completed at least 5 things (and sport the Company Girl Button on your blog if you're a blogger.)  I'd love to know what Small Thing was your favorite!

2. Email me your total points.  Don't leave them in the comments.  That way it will be a real surprise when I announce the winners on Monday.

One reminder:  you should only give yourself points if you complete the Small Thing on the day it's assigned.  You can "catch up" on the tasks if you miss, but the points are only good for that day.  It's my Anti-Procrastination stand and you'll thank me.....later.

These are our prizes, well worth playing for!

For Most Points, the prize is.... a print of Psalm 84:5.   This was our verse for this month.   I love being reminded that my strength is in the Lord.  I love being reminded to set my heart on pilgrimage.  Pilgrimage is a journey of obedience and faithfulness to the One who is leading us!  Oh, you're going to love having this scripture NICE AND BIG!!

For the Company Girl random drawing, the prize will be: not one, but TWO signed books by Lisa Whelchel!

If you've never left a comment, don't be shy!  We want to enjoy your company and I want everyone to have a chance at winning something!

POINTS: 20 for commenting AND emailing me....good towards your final score!

Whip out your calculators and...best of luck to you!!

Just Hanging Out...Again

Towels these days!

They are so lazy.  All they ever do is hang out with each other, slouching over the rods and shooting the breeze like they've got all day.  It's like they don't even care if they have good posture or match their partners.  Rumpled and disheveled, some of them don't even bother to pick themselves up off the floor to exchange so much as a "hello."  They just hunch their shoulders and remain in lifeless heaps of moist indifference as you pass by.

It's too bad, because the good-looking hand towels usually steal the show by placing themselves in fancy rings by the sink.  They demand more attention with their trendy trims and tassels, but even they have been seduced by the sloppy casual culture of the blue-collar bath towels.  They're often caught sneaking off their haughty rings and yukking it up with the boys.

It annoys me to walk into the bathroom and see such reckless self-indulgence.  Towels these days should have a little more self-respect by acting appropriately for their jobs.  They should hang at attention the way towels used to, waiting with expectancy to work when called upon.  And they oughta be willing to stay orderly in the cabinets, instead of falling all over each other in wanton abandon whenever the door closes.  It's just not right.

Today's Small Thing is to show today's young towels how it should be done.  Place them firmly on their rods and give them a crisp swat.  Grab the floor-huggers by the collar and march them directly to the washing machine.  Give the hand-towels a good talking-to and encourage them to be better examples.  Check on the cabinet towels and make sure none of them are giving birth to illegitimate wash cloths.  They need to straighten up in there or be separated.

POINTS: 40 for dealing with problem towels   

P.S. Don't forget...tomorrow we will report February's points!  Woo Hoo!!

Danger Zone

Do you have Danger Zones at your house?  We do.

They're the areas that we swoop past and drop our payloads as we go.  There are explosions of papers, bills, keys, cell phones, purses, gum wrappers and receipts at these hot spots.  Not to mention pens, wallets, overdue DVD's, tickets, church bulletins and school notices. 

Our main Danger Zone is a corner of the kitchen counter.  We walk in, dump our stuff and usually head to the refrigerator for a snack.  It's far too much trouble to walk the additional few feet to the back hall, the "official" parking place of personal property.

My husband is the vigilante of the Danger Zones.  Without him reminding us to move our junk, we might be buried in the collateral damage.  Thank God we have someone around to help save us from ourselves.

Today's Small Thing is to tackle a Danger Zone.  Where do you drop your bombs of junk mail and keys?  Take a few minutes and straighten it up.  It's amazing how good it feels not be be greeted with a disaster when you walk in the door. 

POINTS: 40 for doing some Shock and Awe clean-up in at least one Danger Zone

What's the oldest piece of paper or item you found in the rubble?  Mine is an overdue DVD (2 weeks).

The Oscars, The New JC Penney Song, and Feeling Blue

As I was putting make-up on yesterday, I thought I looked a little lackluster.  Part of the problem is that I really, really need highlights. (In my hair, not my life in general.)  I miss the shimmery blonde streaks that I live for but have been to busy to have done.  And after watching all the glamorous Hollywood people walk the red carpet at the Oscars, my comfy but tattered bathrobe wasn't helping to buoy my spirits.  Yeah, I felt a little blue.

I sighed.  And as I raised my eyes heavenward to ask for divine help with the blush and mascara, I noticed that one of the light bulbs over the mirror had gone out.

Hope flickered in my heart!  Maybe it's not the highlights, maybe its the lighting that's causing my problems!  Every diva knows she needs to be lit properly!  Just ask Angelina.

Today's Small Thing is to replace any burned-out bulbs you may have around your house.  The ones that get often overlooked are fan lights, bathroom lights, and any that are "grouped." The group of light bulbs still provide light, but it's just....dull.  Think radiance!  Think Oscar-winning set design!

If you don't have replacement bulbs on hand, put them on your list so that next time you're at the store you can pick them up.  With proper lighting in your home, you'll feel just like you're in a movie.  So glamorous, so well lit, so diva-like.

POINTS: 30 for replacing bulbs

AND/OR: 20 if you put them on your list

(50 max)

P.S.  The best part of the Oscars were the JC Penney commercials and their captivating song, Killing the Blues by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.  Hey, my new light bulbs helped kill the blues!  Now, I just need those highlights....

Counter Intelligence Unit

It doesn't take a super secret agent to figure out where "KAOS" has been at work at our house.  Just take a look at our bathroom counters.  Between the toothpaste, hairspray, makeup and curling irons, some mornings it's difficult to even SEE the counters.

So Today's Small Thing is to "Get Smart" in the bathrooms and clear off those counter tops.  You could take your arm and do a clean sweep of everything into a drawer and be done with it, or you could whip out your handy cleaners and gadgets to do a more thorough job of actually cleaning.  You'll probably enjoy the latter action for a lot longer, but I've used the first method many times and even that gives you some satisfaction.

You might even enlist some Junior Agents to do some spraying and wiping.  They can be a bit trigger happy, but they are often eager for a top secret assignment if given the right tools and a time limit. 

POINTS: 30 for completing the counter intelligence mission

Lighten Up!

I know I'm a little distracted.  What with all the running around, working, painting, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the family, most of the time my mind is elsewhere.

Take for instance last week.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  I'd taken G.T. (14) to the dentist, and on the way home drove through ChikFil-A.  I placed our order and drove up to the window.  I exchanged the usual conversation with the girl at the window.

Yes, ketchup and ranch dressing. 

No, no delicious milkshake today. 

Eleven dollars, eighty-one cents?

Okay.  Thanks.

Thank you. Yeah, uh huh.  Buh bye.

I gave her a last cheery smile (what a nice young lady, she really knows how to make eye contact) and pulled ahead to organize the food.  As I handed G.T. his chicken sandwich, I happened to catch a glimpse of my face in the rearview mirror.

WHAT??

OK, HOW COULD I NOT NOTICE THAT ONE LENS HAD FALLEN OUT OF MY SUNGLASSES?

Here's a picture of me wearing the faulty sunglasses.

I carried on a whole conversation looking like an idiot!  No wonder that ChikFil-A girl was looking at me strangely!  DUH.

I turned to G.T. and asked, "HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN DRIVING AROUND LIKE THIS??"

He wiped the waffle fries from his mouth and just looked at me in disbelief.  He hadn't noticed because he was on the other side of me.  "Oh, Mom! HOW COULD YOU NOT NOTICE?  Can't you tell only one eye is shaded?"  He already has a long repertoire of stories on me.  Now he's added one more.

How about you?  Today's Small Thing is to have a laugh at your own expense.  Have you done anything recently that you just have to shrug and laugh over?  Tell us about it!  Help your Company Girls learn not to take themselves too seriously.

POINTS: 30 for making a point to lighten up today.  Don't cry over the spilled milk, don't fuss over the minutiae, don't make mountains out of molehills!  Life is too short for that. Make a conscious effort to see the bright side.

BONUS: 20 for leaving a short story on yourself in the comments below

Hit the Road, Trash

You know, I counted up the number of trash cans we have at our house and realized that we have 10, not including the one under the sink.  Wow!  Apparently I like having handy waste baskets around.

What's also apparent is that I don't like to empty them regularly.

Eh, just paper in there.....fugettabout it!

But in the deep recesses of my mind it bothers me to see un-emptied receptacles.  It's like I care enough to put out a trash can but don't care enough to empty it.  I'm a rare mix of motivation and apathy and it's driving me crazy.

Well, today's Small Thing is to empty all the waste baskets in your house and take it all out to the big stinky can outside.  This is going to take me one step closer to achieving my fantasy of living in a Better Homes and Gardens feature home.  You notice THEY never have any visible trash cans, and certainly none that are overflowing with junk mail, old school menus and the occasional banana peel.

It's going to feel good to see the bottoms of those cans again.  Now, if I can just get the gum wads off, I'll REALLY be in fantasy land!

POINTS: 30 for making the trash hit the road

How many waste cans live at your house?

Embrace what's beautiful

There are so many things in life that threaten to pull us down.  Just yesterday, my back tire blew out on my way to take G.T. (14) to school.  I pulled over to a safe spot and breathed a prayer of thankfulness that it didn't happen on the freeway.   But it was not what we needed to deal with on a busy day. 

Though we haven't dealt with health issues like so many of you have, we've had our own challenges.  The stress of keeping our heads above water while we run a business and raise children and pay for college and keep the wheels on things can burden us to the point that we lose our perspective.

Yet when I look back on all the things that have happened in our family there is beauty to be found, even in the hard times.   Somehow in the midst of loss and heartache, financial stress and the long road of parenting, hope can bloom.  It's found in the love you share and the life you're making together.

Today's Small Thing is to find something beautiful in your home and make a table centerpiece out of it.  It could be a vignette of favorite things or treasured photographs.  Maybe a glass vase with some cut flowers in it.  It could be teddy bears and blocks, or candles and seashells if you want.  Use your imagination!  Move what's normally on your table and put something there to remind you of what's beautiful in your life. 

Then just enjoy it!

I'm going to cut some winter branches that still have some red berries on them and place them in a vase.  It will remind me that even in the dead of winter, there is color and life and wonder.  I want to celebrate that today.

What will you place on YOUR table today and what will it remind you of?

POINTS: 30 for creating a new centerpiece or "tablescape."  (Tablescapes for Dummies like me, here)

BONUS POINTS: 20 for blogging about it (if you're a blogger) or or simply telling someone about it (if you are a non-blogger).  If it takes you a few days to blog about it, that's ok. 

50 points max.

Be sure and let us know if you blogged or posted a picture....we wanna come see!  Non-bloggers can email me a photo and I'll post it!

Home Sweet Home

I've got several homeless shelters set up at my house.  They are called Junk Drawers.

They shelter every drifter, misfit and lonely soul that wanders through my home.  The drawer in my kitchen used to be fairly organized until there was a mutiny of sorts and now it's just a free-for-all in there.

Many of the items have been in the shelters so long that now they've become citizens and elected a mayor (Swiss Army Knife, the sharpest knife in the drawer of course) and have their own Society of Misfits.  While the receipts cower in the back corner, the bouncy ball and rocks take care of business for their Swiss boss.  The spools of thread are always tangling up progress, but they're just part of the bureaucracy. 

Many of the items are useful and could be given full-time employment elsewhere, but without a permanent address they can't be located when they are needed.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to hire scissors for a last-minute job and not being able to find him.  These guys are elusive.

So today's Small Thing is to find permanent homes for one or two items drifting around your house.  Just visit your own homeless shelters and find a couple of characters with potential and either lead them on home to where they belong (their kinfolk have been worried), or create a new place for them. 

You know, when you give a guy a place to call home in this world, you're giving him a chance at new life.  He is free to become a productive member of society.  It feels good to offer hope to the homeless, and the reward of organization will warm your heart.

POINTS: 20 for finding a home for one drifter

BONUS POINTS: 10 for each additional home, up to 5

(70 points max)

Let us know: what's the oddest thing you've got drifting around in your shelters?  Mine is a tiny jar of baby teeth.  Eeww.  Perhaps I could just let that go...but that's for another Small Thing.

I'm just an Old Fashioned Girl

After a weekend of hockey tournament games, I am pooped!  It was so fun to come home on Sunday night to the same dishes I'd left in the sink on Friday night.

Not.

Even though we try our best to limit outside activities, sometimes busy weekends are unavoidable and the dishes and chores don't get done.  But even on the weekends that we are just hanging out at home, the mess inside can grow to gigantic proportions.  It's enough to make you want to pull the covers over your head and hide, come Monday morning.

Don't you wish you make it all go away by hiding in bed??  I do.

But, hey!  That's not why we're all here this morning, is it?  We're here to get a shot of courage to face the battle. 

And we're going to do it the Old Fashioned Way.

The Rock and Roll Way.

Today's Small Thing is to turn up some music that gets your blood pumping, and then spend 5-15 minutes simply straightening up!  You can use my playlist to get moving, and really crank it up!  Or use your own faves.  We're only talking about working through about 3-5 songs.

As you're picking up, you really should throw in some good dance moves, too. Since I am a pathetic white-girl dancer, I will push my lips into a sultry pout and make some circular motions with my fists.  I didn't really get the boogie gene, but I do love to bop my head and pretend I'm good.

So how about some good, old-time rockin points?

POINTS: 40 for doing a pretty good straightening up job

BONUS POINTS:  10 if you did a little dancin' while workin'

Tell us:  what did you straighten today, and didja dance???