Getting Your Housemates On Board The Simplification Train

I have a client who is trying to simplify her life, and she would be succeeding at it beautifully, if it weren't for her family! Sometimes, it can seem like your housemates are hell-bent on making your life more complicated -- bringing in tons of unnecessary clutter, expecting you to pick up after them, and creating chaos in your schedule. For a simplicity strategy to really work, the whole team has to be on board...

Phooey On "Alternative" Halloween Activities

Every year, I hear more and more parents talking about how they aren't letting their kids go trick-or-treating (because it's too dangerous) or visit a haunted house (because it's too scary) or dress up as witches and devils (because it celebrates the occult) -- that they are opting for "safe" activities at churches and malls, rather than sending their kids out to forage in the neighborhood. I find this a worrying trend, for many reasons...

Whitwell Holocaust Memorial -- A Beacon Of Tolerance In The Tennessee Mountains

A friend of ours lives in Whitwell, TN -- about 45 minutes outside of Chattanooga up in the mountains. When Matt and I told her that we were coming to visit, she seemed surprised that we would drive all that way for a town whose Dairy Queen is closed on Sundays. But we had an ulterior motive -- we also wanted to see the Children's Holocaust Memorial that is set up at the local middle school.

Halloween Isn't Just For Kids

I absolutely love Halloween! Next to Christmas, it's my favorite annual celebration. But I can't stand it when adults get all curmudgeonly about Halloween -- anyone who thinks that this is an event just for children is crazy! There are plenty of ways to enjoy Halloween, even when you're child-free.

Halloween Decorations In 200 Square Feet

I love to go all out for Halloween. To me, Halloween is the perfect time for decorating -- you can be gross and disturbing and fun at the same time (unlike Christmas, which tends to be too sincere for that.) However, I can't take up half the basement with all of my seasonal paraphernalia like I did in a house. Matt and I have to economize our storage space -- but I've figured out a creative way to get festive without a lot of "stuff"...

Admin Time? What The Heck Is That?

Managing your time at the office can be a real challenge -- how do you stay on top of daily to-do's when you have meetings to attend, fires to put out, and people knocking on your door every 5 minutes asking for something? The key is to have a regular chunk of time blocked off for getting YOUR work done.

Are You Making Your Days Harder Than They Need To Be?

I posted a great quote of the day this week -- "If you experience stress, you're doing it wrong." (Jay Conrad Levinson) A friend of mine thanked me for reminding her of this concept, and it made me think about how complicated our lives become without us even realizing it. So let me take a second today to remind you to K.I.S.S.

Agreeing To Disagree -- A Lost Art

As you can tell if you've been reading my blogs, I love a good debate. But I never realized how fortunate I am to have surrounded myself with so many open-minded individuals -- people who can discuss sensitive topics without taking offense, and without feeling the need to "convert" the other person to their belief system. You forget what a blessing this is, until you come up against someone who wants to head-butt you into his way of thinking!

My Experience As A Birth Partner

Just because I haven't chosen to have kids myself does not mean that I am unacquainted with the birthing process. When I did my Social Work internship in college, I was actually a birth partner for a homeless teenage girl. It was a fascinating experience -- one which taught me a great deal about the wonder of procreation, as well as the incredibly flawed and broken system into which so many children are born in this country.