Backyard Party Preparations

The reason I started this blog is to be a voice of encouragement to others like me.  People who are capable of being greatly organized....but... maybe you don't have it all organized just yet.
We are having a party this Saturday at our house, and there is some work to be done.

Not only are we finishing a paint project inside the house, but we have this yard work to get to.  I am not a natural gardener.  I'm not even that good at pulling the deadheads without being too hard on the flower.  Oh no!  That can be a problem eh? That's ok, we'll get through.    See my garden that looked AMAZING a few weeks ago is now caught between blooms. Hopefully I can spruce this up by Saturday!

I have learned that being VERY diligent with watering will produce lovely flowers, even if you aren't a great gardener.


Preparing for a party is part of an organized social you.
If we want to build friendships and create great memories, we must organize times to do this.

I sent out my invitations almost 2 weeks prior using the free service called evite.  This gathering is with close friends, so this is enough lead time for the party.

During the week I will post some more information on party planning.  The first step is always to prepare the invitations. Next you will want to plan the menu, and then prepare the environment.

Here is some party planning ideas from the current July 2012 issue of Real Simple magazine.  It's quite paraphrased, but some of it is taken direct.  Grab the magazine - its a nice issue.

Setting the Scene

1. The Invitation: 3 things to include:

- What they'll be eating.  This provides an opportunity for guests to mention food allergies or any other concerns.
- Attire.  Everyone (OK, every woman) is wondering what to wear.  Tank top?  Sundress?  Give guests a sense of the vibe: "You wear the flip-flops; we'll flip the burgers" or "bring your swimsuits"
- Rain Plans. Unless it is a large event, you probably won't need to make rain plans, but if it is a large gathering you will want to provide this information.

2. Mosquitoes: How to prey on their weaknesses.  

- Get rid of standing water.  This is where they lay their eggs.
- Plug in some fans.  It might sound funny to run a fan outside, but mosquitoes are weak flyers, so even a fan set to low can create enough airflow to keep them away.
- Offer guests bug wipes or spray.  Try to find something that won't create a smelly cloud of vapours.  Bug wipes are available through Avon, Skin so Soft Bug Guard Plus Picardin Towelettes ($14 for eight, avon.com)

3.Lighting - Don't leave your guests in the dark. 

- a bit of ambient lighting will make things pleasant and easy for people to move around.  Set out some patio lights to provide extra lighting.
- as the sun is setting turn on the lights.  Your eyes will adjust to the lighting gradually.
- If you need to run cords through the yard, snip old wire hangers and bend them into skinny U-shaped pegs (like cricket wickets, but only an inch or two wide). Then are them over the cords and hammer them flush to the ground.

4. Hey, Mr. DJ.  These are playlist tips from Michael Antonia, the owner of Flashdance, a production company in Los Angeles.

- Don't crank the speakers.  No one will want to stand near them if they are blaring.  Either use several smaller speakers spread out through the yard, or if you are using a boom box, place it above ear level so it's not blasting at guests.
- Go heavy on classics.  Use songs the people recognize.  Keep it upbeat, and mix in some newer tunes here and there.
Plan for five hours.  Most parties aren't going to last longer than that, and if there's anyone who realized the playlist has started over at hour six, then that's ok!

5. Have a seat.

- You will want to try to provide a seat for everyone.  Consider if there is any indoor furniture that you can double duty outdoors.
- Ask a friend or two to tote along some lawn chairs
- Consider renting. Renting can be surprisingly affordable.  Many vendors will even drop off and pick up, so all you have to do is round up the guests and good cheer.

6. Food and Drink

Stick to easy to prepare, standard summer cookout menu options.  Think make ahead options.  You won't want to miss the party because you are bogged down in preparations.

- Serve hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pre-prepared skewers.  Something tasty and simple to serve.

- Pre-make salads.  Provide a variety of leafy greens and creamy salads such as potato.

- Either serve food from an indoor buffet, or put temperature sensitive items on ice. 

- Simplify the bar.  Select 4-5 drinks only that you are prepared to serve.  Be sure you have all the ingredients on hand.   If yours is a non-alcohol bar, you will need to increase the amount of drinks available. i.e. 4 gallons of alcohol-free drinks for every 25 people. 

- Have a bucket of ice to store drinks in to keep them cool.

- dessert.  Assemble desserts ahead of time and store them in the fridge or freezer so when it's time to serve you can just pull out the ready desserts. 

As I prepare for our party this week I will post more information on party preparations and ideas as we lead up to the day to entertain.  

Busy Ants

Are you like an Ant?

Have you ever noticed how excited we get to plant our garden in the spring?  Oh, we rush to the store and pick out the annual flowers in pretty colours, each year picking a fresh new colour scheme for the garden!  We race home with our new plants, budding with hope, and put them in the garden and arrange them "just so".  We water them and watch with careful diligence to see that they grow.

From the first week we plant, we watch for weeds, and deadheads and protect our purchase, with the knowledge that our diligence over this little garden WILL grow and it WILL produce the results we hope for...a beautiful garden to enjoy.

Here is a scripture from the book of Proverbs that speaks of diligence.

Proverbs 6:6-11

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
⁷ It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest —
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.

This scripture can have many, many applications in our life, but today we are going to focus on spiritual diligence.  The ant knows it has to gather and store if it will eat.  (Maybe the ant likes to organize and categorize its little harvest....LOL!)

We KNOW that if we want our garden to grow and be healthy we must water, prune, weed, and tend to it with diligence.

Our spirits need regular nourishment, just like a garden.  No food, no growth.  The ant does not wait for someone or someting else to feed it.  The ant is steady and faithful, one day at a time.

We can nourish our own spirit daily, just like the ant.  If you are not diligent to nourish your spirit, a spiritual famine and drought will come upon you like a theif and you will feel a spiritual poverty that drains you in every area of your life. 

Feed your spirit today.  Read your Bible, pray.  Sing a song.  Do the things that ground you in your faith.  When you are centred with the Lord, you have an inner peace that helps you face all the things that life throws at you.

Be like the ant....be diligent to nourish your spirit every day!

So much Pasta!

So Much Pasta!
Make your shelf organized with simple plastic baskets. I decided to organize my pasta/rice/baking supplies cupboard. There was just SO MUCH PASTA! We tend to leave behind those little, partly used bags. Now they are all put together so that they will get used up.
 Do you have a cupboard harboring stow aways... little partly used packages of food that you have paid good money for and you have forgotten it's there? By using baskets you can group like items together so you can quickly and easily see what you have and put it to use.

 These are simple baskets purchased at the local dollar store. (Ok, our modern day pricing means they were $1.50 each. LOL!) By purchasing some very inexpensive plastic containers, you can sort and organize like items together.
The top shelf is all assorted varieties of lentils, rice and baking supplies such as chocolate chips and coconut. Then to the right of that is more supplies of similar nature. The next shelf is a large basket of pasta in every variety, and the food wrap that doesn't fit in the drawer is to the right of that. The bottom shelf is everyday rice, brown rice and quinoia, and a couple of very large bowls that don't fit in my other cupboards.
 Take a few minutes to day and organize a shelf in your kitchen. You'll be glad you did.

Here is a good post I found on a website at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_05htm
To do lists will help us in our daily tasks at home and at work.  In fact I use a To Do list every morning, afternoon and evening just to keep track of my daily routine.
You can use the links to the template or make your own that is customized to your daily life.

To Do Lists

The Key to Efficiency

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Do you often feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do, or do you find yourself missing deadlines? Or do you sometimes just forget to do something important, so that people have to chase you to get work done?
All of these are symptoms of not keeping a proper "To-Do List." To-Do Lists are prioritized lists of all the tasks that you need to carry out. They list everything that you have to do, with the most important tasks at the top of the list, and the least important tasks at the bottom.
By keeping a To-Do List, you make sure that your tasks are written down all in one place so you don't forget anything important. And by prioritizing tasks, you plan the order in which you'll do them, so that you can tell what needs your immediate attention, and what you can leave until later.
To-Do Lists are essential if you're going to beat work overload. When you don't use To-Do Lists effectively, you'll appear unfocused and unreliable to the people around you. When you do use them effectively, you'll be much better organized, and you'll be much more reliable. You'll experience less stress, safe in the knowledge that you haven't forgotten anything important. More than this, if you prioritize intelligently, you'll focus your time and energy on high value activities, which will mean that you're more productive, and more valuable to your team.
Keeping a properly structured and thought-out To-Do List sounds simple enough. But it can be surprising how many people fail to use To-Do Lists at all, never mind use them effectively. In fact, it's often when people start to use To-Do Lists effectively and sensibly that they make their first personal productivity breakthroughs, and start making a success of their careers.

Preparing a To-Do List

To start preparing your To-Do List, download our To-Do List template. (Writing your list down on paper or putting it into a document is the simplest and easiest way to start using To-Do Lists.) Then follow these steps:

Step 1:

Write down all of the tasks that you need to complete. If they're large tasks, break out the first action step, and write this down with the larger task. (Ideally, tasks or action steps should take no longer than 1-2 hours to complete.)

Note:
You may find it easier to compile several lists (personal, study, and workplace To-Do Lists, for example). Try different approaches and use the best for your own situation.

Step 2:

Run through these tasks allocating priorities from A (very important, or very urgent) to F (unimportant, or not at all urgent).
If too many tasks have a high priority, run through the list again and demote the less important ones. Once you have done this, rewrite the list in priority order.

Using Your To-Do Lists

To use your To-Do List, simply work your way through it in order, dealing with the A priority tasks first, then the Bs, then the Cs, and so on. As you complete tasks, tick them off or strike them through.
You can use To-Do Lists in different ways in different situations. For instance, if you're in a sales-type role, a good way to motivate yourself is to keep your To-Do List relatively short, and aim to complete it every day.
In you're in an operational role, or if tasks are large or dependent on too many other people, then it may be better to focus on a longer-term list, and "chip away" at it day-by-day.
Many people find it helpful to spend, say, 10 minutes at the end of the day, organizing tasks on their To-Do List for the next day.

Tip:
Once you're comfortable using To-Do Lists, you can start differentiating between urgency and importance. For more on this, see our article on the Urgent/Important Matrix.

Using Software

Although using a paper list is an easy way to get started using To-Do Lists, software-based approaches can be more efficient in spite of the learning curve. These can remind you of events or tasks that will soon be overdue, they can also be synchronized with your phone or email, and they can be shared with others on your team, if you're collaborating on a project.
There are many time management software programs available. At a simple level, you can use MSWord or MSExcel to manage your To-Do Lists. Some versions of Microsoft Outlook, and other email services such as Gmail, have task lists and To-Do Lists as standard features. Remember the Milk is another popular online task management tool that will sync with your smartphone, PDA, or email account. It can even show you where your To-Do List tasks are on a map. Other similar services include Todoist, Ta-Da Lists, and Toodledo.
One of the biggest advantages to using a software-based approach to manage your To-Do List is that you can update it easily. For example, instead of scratching off tasks and rewriting the list every day, software allows you to move and prioritize tasks quickly.

Tip:
All of us think, plan and work differently. A program that works well for a colleague might not work well for you simply because you learn and think in your own way. This is why it's useful to research and try several different ways of compiling your To-Do List before deciding on a single system.

Examples

To-Do Lists can help you stay on top of important projects and piles of undone tasks or decisions.
For instance, imagine you're heading a team that's working on a large, complex project. There are so many tasks to do, and so many people doing them, that staying on top of it all seems overwhelming.
You can use a To-Do List in this situation to help stay organized. You can structure your list by team member, writing out tasks and deadlines for every person on the project. Each day as you write out your own tasks that need completion, you can also check your Team To-Do List to see who's working on what, and if anything is due in that day. You can also include other tasks that you need to complete as part of your job.
Or, imagine you're in a sales role and have a long list of people who you need to talk to. You write out a list of everyone you need to call and every client you need to see, and start prioritizing.
You know that one client really keen on your product and is ready to buy, so you prioritize them with an "A" - this is a prospect that's really worth focusing on. Conversely, you know that another prospect is playing you off against several competitors, meaning that the you'll make less profit, and that there's a reasonable chance that you won't get the business. You prioritize this person with a "D". It's worth making some effort here, but you should focus most of your attention on better prospects.

Tip:
To-Do Lists are particularly useful when you have a small number of tasks that you need to complete. However, they can become cumbersome when you have too many items on them, or when you need to progress multiple projects. At this stage, it's worth starting to use Action Programs, which are more scalable versions of To-Do Lists.

Key Points:

To be well organized in the workplace, you need to be using To-Do Lists or Action Programs. By using them, you will ensure that:

• You remember to carry out all necessary tasks.
• You tackle the most important jobs first, and don't waste time on trivial tasks.
• You don't get stressed by a large number of unimportant jobs.

To draw up a Prioritized To-Do List, download our template and use it to list all of the tasks that you must carry out.
Mark the importance of the task next to it, with a priority from A (very important) to F (unimportant). Redraft the list into this order of importance. Then carry out the jobs at the top of the list first. These are the most important, most beneficial tasks to complete.

You can also use software-based approaches to manage your To-Do List. You can often access these from anywhere, and they can often be synced with your Smartphone or PDA.