Get More Rewards from Your Reward Card Memberships!

You're standing at the cash register and the cashier asks if you have an AnyStore Reward Card.  Oh yes, you say as you begin to dig in your wallet searching for the card.  You can hear the shuffling behind you as the other waiting customers begin to become impatient.  In the end, you just can't find it and you give up.  

Sound familiar?  I've been there many times and I am sure you have as well.  

Last night I was doing a little blog surfing.  I have so many that I enjoy reading but my favorites are the ones that offer organizing tips.  I saw a link on one of my favorites that had back at the first of the year, a Link Party.  The subject was "What does The Contents of Your Purse say about you?"  There was a link to a fun little survey that you answered questions and the survey then told you things about yourself.  I took it.   Fun, but no great revelations there.  

The list of bloggers that responded with photos of their handbags and the contents was very interesting.  I found one "helpful hint" that spoke to my heart!!

Putting your reward cards on a key ring!  I'm not talking about the little bitty ones that they sometimes give for just that purpose, I'm talking about the regular sized ones.  They are the size of your debit cards or driver's license and are among the most commonly searched for things in our handbags!  

This morning I got my 3 hole punch out, found a medium sized key ring and 8 punches later I was mounting the cards on my ring and loving the results!!

They now are resting in the side pocket of my wallet with the ring up for easy access.  No more searching frantically for the right card to get my savings, no more lost money!  Another benefit will be that often stores will send you coupons when you use their reward cards, ca-ching!

Now for the how to, I know it is fairly self explanatory, but I found that the hand held punch didn't work for me as it was very hard to punch through on the first card I chose to do.  So I grabbed my 3 hole punch, lined up the card at the edge and when I was finished all the holes lined up (this appealed to my sense of order) 

You can see the finished product in the photo above.  I LOVE ideas like this!

Here are the links to the original brilliant lady that came up with it or at least passed it on.  

http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2012/01/purse-organization-whats-in-your-purse.html

Good luck with your version!

Blessings~  Kat

                                                           VS          

Battle of the Mops!!

Mopping.  No one I knows favorite job.  But we have to do it.  Otherwise our floors would become .... well.....dirt!  I have had so many people ask me which I preferred a good old fashioned string mop with bucket of water or the new fangled swiffer type mops.  

I have to tell you, up until recently I was a strict fan of the string mop.  I found my self changing the water a ridiculous amount of times for every room but otherwise I'd have dirty water and that just won't do.  Then one day I happened up on a swifter type mop, you know the ones with the wet nap on them. I tried it but found that the effect was less than satisfactory for me and so it became a resident of the broom closet.  

Now I'm gonna tell you a little story about an overworked cleaning lady and her forgetful self.  

I was on my way to work at a client's home.  I had had a morning that I wouldn't wish on an enemy!  Nothing went right, every time the phone rang it was someone else wanting me to do something and I just couldn't make happen.  My schedule was fouled up due to my having to be out of work with illness and I wasn't about to ask my client to postpone yet again.  

I'd finally gotten out of the house, van loaded, ipod playing in the background I was half way to my 1st client of the day's home.  Then my cell phone rang........I looked at the name and saw it was my daughter.  I pulled over and returned the call thinking she needed lunch money or something.  NO......she wanted to know why I'd left a large part of my supplies sitting on the carport!  ARGH!!!  Just another perfect addition to my morning!  I got out and walked back to the rear of the van and sure enough, my mop, bucket, broom AND my vacuum were AWOL!! 

Okay, do I go back or go on???  

I went on.  I knew my client had a broom and vacuum, I wasn't sure about the mop though.  When I got to her home I told her about my lack of supplies and she indeed had a broom and vacuum, just no mop.  She did however have a Swiffer mop.  I told her I'd make it work.  So, after I finished all the other chores, I looked at that little mop....what am I gonna do I'm thinking.  I looked at the mop and then at my basket of terry cloths..... hummmmm......the wheels were turning.  

At home I use the swiffer for alot of things that they never intended I'm sure for me to do, and I was on my way to yet another use for this little mop.  I had (it is now deceased) a steam mop at one time.  They have terry cloth pads..... why not use the terry cloths I had in the same way??  

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!  I surely didn't invent the swiffer mop but I sure used it in a much better way!  

I filled a spray bottle with cleaner ( I use vinegar on most all floor surfaces) sprayed a small area and mopped away.  WALA!  No dirty mop bucket smelling up my van, no stale smelling string mop hanging around.  No more putting my hands in yucky dirty water to whring out a string mop.  I went over the floor once with the vinegar and then once with clear water.  The cloths tell you when to change and you can see just how clean the floor is becoming!  I love it!  

Now I know that there are those that will not find this a great idea, but to me it is one of my best!  I have a large amount of white terry's and my little swiffer is now a faithful employee.  I got's the best of both worlds!  

The only drawback I have found is that the swiffer mop comes in sections instead of one long piece of handle, making the handle less stable and eventually it will break, but I can work with it!  I took some pretty purple Duct Tape (Duct Tape is my friend!) and make my handle more stable and pretty to look at too.

So, try this method...you just might find you no longer need that old smelly string mop!

Go out and make this day yours and All for His Glory!

Blessings ~ Kat

Where do I start???

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that I am a "personal assistant".  That is just another name for housekeeper, house cleaner, clutter buster, so fourth and so on.  Then they most always say with a sigh, "That is what I need, someone to just get my house clean and then I can keep it that way!"  

Well, here I am to tell you my secrets!  Not all of them mind you, I mean really, I don't want to be unemployed!  But I will give you some basics today to get you off and running.  Then when you realize that it is a doable thing, you'll maybe come back and tell me how you did!  

First things first.....

1.  Choose your fire.  By that I mean choose the room that bugs you the most.  The one room that you always walk into and say "Ugh, what a mess!"  

2.  Gather your materials.  This is a two fold one.  I always go into a room and take a photograph of the entire room.  Put the photo on my computer so I can see it in large print and really look at it.  Notice all the things that I might not see as I'm standing in the room because it tends to overwhelm me.  What do you see?   I get a notebook and make a note of all that I want to do in that room.  Grab three plastic bags (my favorite is the 13 gal size trash bag that ties.)    

First!  I must have music!!  I like the 60's Music Channel on our cable system.  I want it peppy!  OR I put on my "Cleaning Music" play list on my Ipod.

Then........We're Off!

Being sort of OCD about the way I approach things I have a habit of going into the room I'm working on and starting in the farthest corner from the door.  I grab one of my trash bags and go all the way around the room doing a "Fling Boogie" .  This is a process I learned from www.Flylady.com and it works great!  Anything that I determine to be trash is into the bag and gone!  I am usually very good about not looking in the bag after I am finished and I recommend that you don't either.  Don't touch it again.

Then I go back to the starting corner and begin to gather and sort.  Into bag #2 goes donate, into bag #3 goes relocate.  Relocate means things that "live" somewhere else in our home.  

This process usually doesn't take more than 1 hour and when finished I like to take another photo of the room, repeating the process of putting it on my computer for the "big picture" and at that time my trusty notebook comes back into play.  

I make a note of ideas for rearranging the furniture to a more comfortable  position, or redecorating ideas.  I list any repairs that I might find that need to go onto my "Honey do" list.  Then if it is needed the room gets a deep cleaning.  But that is another subject for another day.  Today we are "decluttering".  

Now, you might ask yourself, "She cleans houses for a living, does her house really ever need cleaning or decluttering?"  HA!  I know you've heard the old adage, "The shoe makers daughter never has shoes." It is true for cleaning ladies homes too!  There have actually been times in the past where I've had someone cleaning my house so I can go clean a clients house!  

This might not be a great system for you, take what you will and make it your own to help you with blessing your families home.

Now go out and make this day yours for His Glory!

Blessings ~ Kat

The Gnat Trap!


Have you noticed tiny little flying insects in the kitchen around your fruit bowls?  Do you have banana's sitting on the counter and when you walk by a swarm flies up and away?  

You have gnats!  Also known as fruit flies, critters, bugs and pests in general.  They come with the territory when you have a good deal of fruit in the house.  With it being the end of summer, we all have some  of the little pests flying around the house.  Ti's no crime, and no reflection on your housekeeping.  It's just a fact of life.  

BUT

You don't have to keep them or allow them to set up housekeeping in your home.  You don't need to go out and purchase poisons, strips, or even the electric critter zapper you've seen advertised late at night on the cable channels.  All you need is a couple of items that you most certainly have around the house right now and if not a short jaunt to the local grocery store will take care of it for less than $5.00.

Okay, let's gather the tools together.  Go to your kitchen pantry and find your bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar, bring it to the counter.  Then look on your kitchen sink and find  your bottle of liquid dish detergent.  Bring that to the counter and place it beside the vinegar,  Now go to the cabinet that you keep small light colored bowls in, find one that will hold about 1 cup of liquid and bring it over to the other items we've gathered.  

Now, pour 1/4 cup of the Apple Cider Vinegar into the small bowl.  Open the bottle of dish detergent and drop 2 to 3 drops into the vinegar in the small bowl.  Stir together with a fork, gently.  Then place the bowl in the location that you see the most gnats in.  My guess, and where mine is right now, is it will be beside the fruit on your counter. 

Now we wait.  When you go back in a little while, you will find the little critters have found the "treat" you've left for them and have dived right in.  This will get rid of the unwanted house guests in a short time, with the added benefit of no chemical smells or danger to pets or children.  

How do these critters get in the house you ask?  They arrive in the fruit and that is all I'm gonna say about that.  You will find that if you keep your fruit in the refrigerator you won't have this problem, but you also lose a great deal on the flavor of your fruit.  Some of it, like banana's just don't do well in the fridge.  Others, well, they don't last more than a few hours out of the fridge.  

This recipe works well when you notice the little critters and it's in the wintertime as well, you know, those times when you find that Irish potato or onion that rolled to the back of the bin and is not as "fresh" as it once was.  

It is a natural occurrence and you are fighting it with nature's weapons.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Now, go out and make this day yours for His Glory!
Blessings~ Kat

clutter

 [kluht-er]  verb

1. to fill or litter with things in a disorderly manner: All kinds of papers cluttered the top of his desk.

noun

2.  a disorderly heap or assemblage; litter: It's impossible to find anything in all this clutter.

3.  a state or condition of confusion.

The picture above is a truly cluttered mess, but it isn't the all inclusive definition of clutter.  You can have clutter coming into your home in a way that you probably haven't thought of.  

Think of your brain as a home. It brain is divided into several different areas called lobes:
• The frontal lobes are responsible for problem solving and judgment and motor function.
• The parietal lobes manage sensation, handwriting, and body position.
• The temporal lobes are involved with memory and hearing.
• The occipital lobes contain the brain's visual processing system.

The brain is an amazing thing.  Like the oceans here on Earth and Outer Space, it is a mysterious thing, with many areas that are as yet uncharted.  As amazing as it is, the Brain is very easily damaged with outside influences.  Drugs, diet and ........ outside clutter.

Say what?  Outside clutter?  What is that you ask?  The television, computer (yep, even though I am actually using one right this minute) and last but not least, certain types of books and magazines.  There used to be a TV commercial about getting a good education, the slogan was "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."  How true that statement is! 

The whole reason for this addition to my blog is a commercial I saw today while watching a favorite TV show.  We have a cable with a DVR box.  That way we don't have to watch commercials as a rule.  I decided while this group of commercials were running was a good time to grab a refill of coffee.  The commercial was advertising several TV reality shows called "Real Housewives of "you fill in the blank here".  Showing the upcoming shows and such. 

I honestly have only watched one episode of the one that is filmed here in our state.  I was unimpressed.  I only watched out of curiosity because I'd heard so much about it.  Again, I was totally unimpressed.  Those actors are NOT housewives.  They are actors, pretending to be "real" housewives.....in my humble opinion! 

The ridiculous stuff going on on those shows is the stuff that nightmares are made of.  Grown so called ladies brawling like barmaids, hair pulling and oh man the foul language!  So many beep outs of words it sounds like Morse Code! 

That kind of television = CLUTTER of the mind. 

So, what were you watching on that DVR, you ask?  That Girl.  A situation comedy from the 1960's.  Good Clean TV.  No fighting, no cursing, no sex (implied or enacted).  Totally entertaining and fluff but at least at the end of it I don't feel the intense desire to go and wash out my ears with lye soap!

My Mother always said, "What you put in your head, comes out in your actions".  You know .....?
She was right.

Now, go and watch an episode of I Love Lucy or if you crave action, Adam 12. 

Blessings~
Kat

Text Book Christians


What you see here is a Text Book Christian.  The man speaking to a brother biker is my husband, Doug.  He is our Chaplain in our CMA (Christian Motorcyclist Association) Chapter, The Blessed Riders.

Doug is known in our circles as the one that has good things in his vest.  He often hides treats in his vest pockets and gets alot of ribbing about it.  It isn't uncommon for a fellow chapter member to "pat him down" to see what he is "holding".  It is quite amusing to us all and especially to Doug. 

There is also another thing you will always find in Doug's vest.  The Holy Bible, his text Book.  It has all the plans, plays and history you could ever ask for.  It has seen him through prison visits, motorcycle rallies and fellowship rides.  It has been his most valuable tool ever.  Not only is The Holy Bible Doug's favorite tool, it's mine as well. 

I use this text book everyday the Lord Blesses me with, it is my go to guide in any situation.  The answers are always there. 

This blog is not a religious one, it is not one I intend to use to preach or convert anyone.  It is however, one that I use to describe how I am able to do what I do.  That said, on with it.

Today is a good day to organize!  I think I will start with my dining room.  There are dishes all over, in drawers, in china cabinets, on top of said cabinets and even sitting underneath!  Today is the day I go through all of it and purge the unwanted. 

Remember the rule:  If you don't love it, it's gone.  If you don't use it, gone.  If it is seasonal, you have to love it enough to give it the valuable real estate this is your home. 

Dishes aren't the only thing in that dining room, there are linens such as table clothes with matching napkins.  Those will get the treatment today as well.  Giving them a good going over to check for staining, tears and such as that. 

Today will be a good day! 

Now go out and make this day yours, for His Glory!

Blessings~ Kat

Good morning! Question of the day: " Does anybody really know what time it is.....does anybody really care? " Chicago

 Thoughts:
Time, an equalizer. Time will settle most any argument, answer most any question and slip away quicker than a 2 year old who's hand you get go of for a second in Walmart. (Don't ask how I know this....)

This could go in so very many directions, from political to religion, but I am going down the middle path.

This past week our middle daughter was married, the planning began in December of last year. It seemed to be so far away, the date of the deed. But, when May 1st arrived we realized that the clock was ticking and there were a thousand things to do, plan and arrange! We began to get slightly panicky, worrying about all those little details and then......June 1st arrived. We realized that it was upon us, the launch date so to speak.

 At this point time seemed to slow down to a snails pace. June 9, 2012 finally arrived, amid prayers of "please Father, keep the rain away till Sunday morning" and "oh please, let there be enough food because RSVP-ing seems to be a like the rotary phone, a thing of the past."

Yes there were little "fires" to put out, but all in all it was a perfect day with a simply beautiful ending.

Did we have enough time? No, but as I always try to remember, all ends well for those that love The Lord.

 Now, go out and make this day yours...and for His Glory!

Blessings - Kat

I'm a GLAD fan!

How many times have you taken your best Corning Ware casserole dishes to a pot luck dinner or to a church for a celebration or funeral and gotten home without your dish? I have done it many times. I had even begun buying casserole dishes at yard sales just for such occasions!

Now there is no need to do that anymore or to worry about losing expensive Corning Ware dishes and their lids. Now there is GLAD Oven Ware! It is the greatest thing since sliced white bread!

What's that you say? You've never heard of Glad Ovenware? Take another look at the photo at top of this blog. That is GLAD Ovenware! It can go straight from the freezer to the oven (up to 400 degrees!) When finished, it can go with it's tight fitting lid anywhere you want to go with it. I have not had one single spill in my car since I began using GLAD Ovenware with it's matching lid. It is so much easier to transport, not having to deal with foil or plastic wrap over a glass casserole dish!

I've taken it to parties, funerals, pot luck dinners and to sick friends homes. I always tell them if I don't wash it up and bring it home at the time, that they can get it back to me later. That is the last time I think about it! It is reasonably priced so that I don't mind not getting it back and I certainly don't mind replacing it because it makes my life so much easier! I do use it at home too. In fact as I type the house is filling with the aroma of homemade Chicken Pot Pie baking away in my 9 x 12 Glad Ovenware pan.

As with most things, there are some cautions when using this product. You can't have the heat over 400 degrees. It isn't a hard plastic, it is sort of flexible and as such you have to put it on a cookie sheet for a foundation while it cooks. I wouldn't recommend allowing children to help with removing it from the oven as the potential for spilling is greater with them as they might try to pick up the "pan" without the cookie sheet. Also, the lid shouldn't be put on until the food has cooled slightly.

You can buy this product at any retailer, even Amazon.com!

I do not get any special consideration for my blog about this product. I just like it and like to pass on my finds to my friends.

Blessings and Happy Cooking!

Kat