C.K. Chou, Ph.D. “Research Results with Electrochemical Cancer Therapy at City of Hope”
Dr. Chou is the former director of a five year research program on Electrochemical Therapy (EchT) for cancer conducted at City of Hope National Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Please mark your calendar for the Beth Moore Simulcast on April 24th– “So Long, Insecurity”.Insecurity is a very serious issue with most women and teen girls in
today’s high-pressure society. Community of Hope Church of the Western
Communities is presenting a live simulcast for Beth Moore’s new book, “So Long, Insecurity”, which addresses this topic. We want to extend a special invitation to all women and high school girls in our area.
Beth’s new book was just released on February 2nd and has already reached
the best seller list immediately after its release. Don’t miss this
opportunity to hear Beth discuss this topic thoroughly.
Location: Royal Palm Beach High School Auditorium, 10600 Okeechobee Blvd, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411.
Date: Saturday, April 24th
Time: 9:30 am
– 4 pm (with a hour and a half break for lunch)Cost: $15 for students, and $25 for adults.
To purchase tickets either email us at events@gocoh.com or call us at 561-753-8883.
Stella and Paul on an Easter Egg Hunt. Photo: Christine Rose.
April, 2010
Dear Around Wellington Readers,
Happy April, Happy Easter, Happy Passover!
As we enter into April, there are several things that come to mind – spring, Easter, April Fool’s Day, Earth Day and mating season for animals. In this issue of our online magazine, we have touched upon the first four of these.If you feel inspired (or would like to get inspired) about spring cleaning, check out “Mommy Moments” by Shakira Muneswar. Getting control of clutter or “bedlam” as she refers to it is a great feeling! If you’d like to try a fun Easter craft with kids, check out our “Kids Corner” for a “Chicks-in-the-Shell” craft. And if you need a little April’s Day material in your day, see Evan Baumel’s “Teen Talk” with his proposal to resolve the national deficit. What about Earth Day on April 22nd…are you willing to take a major step in a green direction? Read Jathy Garcia’s “Living Green” for helpful information on choosing solar panels.
This month I had the pleasure of interviewing Patti and Tom Neri of U.S. Building Inspectors for our “AW Spotlight” story. They are an amazing, hard-working couple, co-owners of the inspection company. They are located in the clubhouse of the Polo Club in Wellington and reach as far as five counties. Read about their combined experience, and you will see why Tom and Patti Neri have a keen eye for detecting what’s functioning properly and what’s not . . . in the world of residential and commercial inspections. See their valuable coupon under “AW Coupons” if you are in need of a home inspection, mold inspection, air quality test or insurance savings inspection. As a totally unrelated sidenote, Patti rescues turtles and tortoises; she has started her own foundation for this.
A warm welcome to our new advertisers this month Lechuza, award-winning, self-watering, indoor planters and Standing Ovation Performing Arts, a high-energy, education-based performing arts studio located in Boynton Beach. On a personal note, I bought one of the Lechuza planters at the Lechuza Grand Opening (located inside Playmobil FunPark), and it was a steal at $29.99 for a waist-high, beautiful, self-watering planter. With Lechuza, the plants can go without watering (if necessary) for up to three months!Standing Ovation is a great place for acting classes, summer theater camp, musical theatre, vocal performance, puppetry, improv, workshops, productions and dramatic birthday parties!
Our wonderful contests continue this month! The first one runs from April 1st to 10th and the prize is a relaxing, one-hour massage from Massage Envy! Here’s what our last Massage Envy contest winner had to say. “I just wanted to say thank you so very much for the massage. It was so wonderful. It was my first massage.Massage Envy made it so relaxing and easy. Loved it so much, that I joined the spa!” And then please don’t forget to return to our “Contest” page April 15th – 20th for a very special prize. It’s a special diet, valued at $590! If you have already given up on that diet and exercise plan that you vowed to keep on January 1st, maybe you’ll be our lucky winner and in great shape after all!
AroundWellington.com has covered several events recently, so if you visit “Photo Galleries” or our “Archives” (then “Photo Galleries”), you will find photos of the Palm Beach Harvest Fundraiser, the Whole Foods “Meet the Artist” Reception with Jerry Ginsberg and the Royal Palm Art & Music Festival. Soon to come…beautiful polo photos from the past season by Christine Rose Photography and photos from Your Bosom Buddies Pink Ribbon Gala.
For a little inspiration, see our “AW Stories of the Month,” including stories on our own South Florida “dog whisperer” Jay Meranchik, a brief interview with a Binks Forest Elementary School teacher Lisa Gifford and recent inductees to the Polo Museum’s Hall of Fame. Thanks, as always, to Lisa Dawn Wax of “Lighten Up With Lisa” who inspires us this month, using a new format. She responds to one reader’s question about how to “start over” when you feel like you have lost everything.
The JCC of the Palm Beaches recently invited Chris Bohjalian, author of Skeletons at the Feast, to speak at a private home in Wellington; our “Cultural Corner” columnist Marla E. Schwartz was there. Skeletons at the Feast is Chris’ twelfth novel and focuses on three individuals attempting to flee from the advance of the Russian Army during the last months of World War II. According to Schwartz, “The book is one of the greatest novels ever written in terms of depicting the horrors of the time period.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg, so please explore our table of contents!Click around and see our latest stories and photos.
THANKS so much to our readers and our advertisers!We appreciate you!!
It was inevitable!You can now become an AroundWellington.com FaceBook fan. See our “Become a Fan” link by strolling down on the left side of www.aroundwellington.com.Speaking of Facebook, don’t forget to read Alan Williamson’s hilarious “Facebook Family Reunion” in “As I Was Saying” this month.
Happy April, Happy Easter, Happy Passover and I hope you’re enjoying the warmer weather again!
Hi Readers. This month I’m experimenting with a slightly new format that I hope will inspire more of you to write in and share your stories and questions. All submissions will be kept confidential and anonymous at your discretion. If you would like to submit something for publication, you can email me directly at lisa@lightworkerlisa.com.Not all stories will be published, but I will try to respond to as many as I can.
Dear Lightworker Lisa,
I have enjoyed all of your inspirational and uplifting columns. However, I have a question I still need advice on and would love your help. I’m sure I’m not the only one who may be going through the ups and downs of everyday life, so I thought I’d ask you this,” How can I find balance?” I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride everyday! I am a mother of two very young children, one who has a severe disability and needs 24 hour care. Like so many others I am unemployed, have lost my home, and now am going to be a single mother shortly. I want so much to find that balance between children, and finding a way to start my new life with basically nothing in the financial sense. I want so much to believe that with faith I can get through this, but as usual fear gets in the way. I have asked my angels for their help, but in the mean time I would love some of your words of wisdom.
Thank you so much – Signed “Starting Over”
Dear “Starting Over”,
You are definitely dealing with some challenging situations and I don’t want to make light of them in any way. You have valid concerns and I’m happy to have the opportunity to address your questions of balance, faith and fear; all of which most of us face on a daily basis.
Balance – Picture a seesaw and think about how it functions.At the very center of the seesaw is a support upon which the seesaw pivots. When the support is properly positioned in the center it allows the seesaw to be level, which is necessary for it to be balanced. Ergo, to be balanced is also to be level and if being balanced is also being level, then we can use the analogy that being level-headed (clear and focused) might help one to feel being in balance. Essentially, before you find balance you must find your center.Your center is that place within you that grounds you and supports you. Whereas, one person’s center might be their head, another person’s might be their gut and yet another’s might be their heart.Ironically, it is at the center of the heart where one finds faith.
Faith – Bottom line is at every crossroad there is a choice to make. The key is to make the best-informed decisions we can when we are faced with that choice. Some choices are easy and some are excruciatingly difficult.Unfortunately, life does not always come equipped with a net. That is why we must do our homework and gather our information so that when we make our choices, especially the difficult ones, we are fully armed with the knowledge to do so. Then, we need to trust our gut or listen to our heart center and just jump. Faith is having the courage to jump in spite of fear.Of course, there still are times when we make informed decisions and things don’t work out the way we had hoped or planned. There is no guarantee that having faith will result in your desired outcome. You may end up with something completely different, but ironically the end result may turn out to be better than you originally anticipated. Faith doesn’t necessarily make things right, but it can give you new perspective, give you the strength to forge ahead when things appear to go wayward, and it can also help you to transcend the short-term pain and refocus on the long-term possibilities.
Fear – As you said life is like a roller coaster ride and we never know what’s around the next corner or to quote Forest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Even when we think we can count on the stability of something, it can turn out to be unpredictably unstable because life is kinetic and, according to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “the only constant is change.”Bear in mind that without change there is no growth and growth is a very good thing. Without growth, without movement, without change what is living?Consider life as an adventure, a journey, not as a final destination. It is important to not be static. Little to nothing can happen in a state of stasis. Even when the caterpillar is in the cocoon and seems to be doing nothing, he is hidden inside growing, evolving, and living. Don’t be afraid to evolve into the person you are meant to be.Don’t be afraid to live. Think of fear as False Evidence Appearing Real. Then, let go of your fear and enjoy the ride; you may like where it leads you.Additionally, try a chocolate and if you don’t like the first one, try another. You might actually find a new favorite.
In conclusion be proactive on your journey, take responsibility for the things you have control of and be patient with the things you don’t.Find your center, find your faith and see past your fears.You can do it.I know you can.
I’m here if you need me.
Lightworker Lisa
Until next time, may your days be brighter and your lives be lighter.
Lisa Dawn Wax, aka Lightworker Lisa, has been certified in Massage Therapy and Reiki Healing for over 15 years. In addition to being a born Lightworker she is a certified Angel Healing Practitioner and Reiki Master; both of which basically confirm her intuitive abilities to help, heal and teach. Using reiki (energy healing), divine messages and intuitive readings, she has helped many people to identify the source of their pain, clarify current life situations, and successfully redirect their focus into positive channels.If you are in need of affordable healing and/or life coaching with immediate results, please call her at 561-594-3948 or visit her new website www.lightworkerlisa.com.
Jay Meranchik, South Florida resident and well-respected dog whisperer, discovered a key element to the anti-aging process when he was still a kid. It’s his ability to value, understand and literally communicate with dogs that makes him unique. He’s not only a superlative dog trainer, teaching individuals how to build relationships with their dogs, but is one of the first pioneers in the field of pet therapy in this country.
Jay teaches Max how to push a shopping cart. Photo by Marla E. Schwartz.
“I helped create the laws that allow pets into nursing homes, hospitals and institutions,” Jay explained. “I’ve been recognized with a Jefferson Award, appeared in a Walt Disney educational film with my own dog, and was honored in proclamation by local commissioners.” Jay’s natural ability to bring out the best in people by introducing his dogs to them in such settings has turned into something that many of us take for granted. Always naming his dogs after superheroes, he’s currently the proud owner of Maxine (nicknamed Max), named after Jessica Alba’s character {Max Guevara, a secret government supersoldier} in Dark Angel, and it’s clear, by watching them together, that their relationship is a very special one.
Although Max looks like a German Shepherd, she’s actually a Belgian Malinois, and at a tender-age of 16-months, attends to Jay’s every need, and he does the same for her. Jay suffers from a rare form of polio that is characterized by progressive symmetrical paralysis and loss of reflexes, usually beginning in the legs. “I got polio from the polio shot when I was fourteen,” Jay explained. “A small percentage of people contract the disease this way.”
Jay and Max. Photo by Marla E. Schwartz.
“It happened when they switched from the vaccine to the sugar pills,” he said. His body obviously didn’t have a good reaction to it. And growing up in the projects of Brooklyn, NY – he already had a rough start in life. “I grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island and in the projects the only pets you were allowed were fish and birds. No cats. No dogs,” Jay said. “But the fish and the birds were all I had when I had got sick and they meant everything to me.”
“I realized something was wrong right away, but it wasn’t until I fell down in school and couldn’t get up anymore that other people noticed,” Jay said. Today Jay looks like the pillar of health and one would never know he has a disability. He suffers deep pain, but it’s nothing that’s visible to the eye. He has what medical professionals refer to as an invisible illness. “That’s a problem because people think there is no problem when there is one,” he said. “I fight it all the time.”
Therefore, Max is more than merely a pet, although his joy at having her in his company is self-evident, but she’s his working dog. Max is always ready to work and enjoys demonstrating her skills. Jay gives a command from the couch, “Max, go open the refrigerator and get me the water.” She does. “Good girl. You didn’t close the refrigerator (she’s young, she’s learning), go close that door.” He makes two clicking noises and she closes the door and returns to Jay. “She also gets the newspaper every morning and she starts the vacuum cleaner up for me.” Max has a training area in the backyard where the climbs the ladder, walks on the balance beam and more. She’s even learning how to push a grocery cart.
Jay and Max
Jay’s fondness of animals was unmistakable as a young child because he used to run away to the local pet shop for solace. One day the owner hired him to come and work after school and feed the animals. Jay was in his element. Later on he worked as an animal handler in a biological lab that sold rat, monkey and dog cells. “They were taking dogs and killing them and selling their cells. I ended up quitting because I couldn’t take it any longer,” he said. Before quitting, he saved a liter and adopted one of the dogs. This dog became his first working dog named Natasha.
It was at the lab when he ran across research papers written by psychiatrists about using dogs as a catalyst for response in patients. “I’m a different individual than most,” he said. Meaning, he realized understood that this research suggested there was a need to train dogs to help therapists reach through the emotional conflicts that existed between them and their patients.
Jay originally moved to Florida to help take care of his mother, but he also had other plans, as well. In September 1974 he created his first organization, the Feeling Heart Foundation, based in Miami Beach. “Animals, up to this point, weren’t allowed in institutions,” he said.His mother had a lot to do with opening up his eyes and teaching him to pursue his gift. “My mother was a woman full of faith and she took care of me when I got polio, and every time I’d reach a goal and she’d see somebody who was less fortunate than I was, whether the person suffered from polio or some other form of a crippling disease, and say, ‘there by the grace of God’. She knew I had a gift with animals and for years I didn’t know what to do with it and she’d tell me that when God is knocking at your door you just have to listen and you’ll figure it out. Finally one day I put it all together and I said I can help.”
He tries to hold back tears when speaking about his mother. “My mother raised me, and I was born and raised Jewish, and one of the things she always impressed upon me was how to make the world a better place,” Jay said. “She said that’s our job. She’s gone now. She passed away a couple of years ago from old age. She was almost 90-years-old.”
These days Jay is busy creating a new foundation called The National K-9 Working Dog, Inc, that will create a national database registry for all working dogs (Police, Search & Rescue and Service) so they can be given critical equipment needed to protect their lives and well being while doing their jobs serving and protecting the public. “I just started it at the beginning of the month and this is the evolution of what I’ve been doing all my life,” he said. “In talking with the Florida state police I found out that there isn’t a retirement program for these dogs, and without one police officers are taking on a financial burden they may not be able to handle. The dogs don’t live much longer after retirement, so the state should at least continue its financial responsibility for these dogs for their last couple of years. Otherwise, and it’s unfortunate, but most police dogs are euthanized.” Working dogs deserve much more respect than what currently exists.
And here’s Jay’s advice, whenever you see a working dog helping someone who is disabled, please don’t bother the dog. “When we enter a grocery store or a restaurant the public is really not aware of how to proceed and react to a service dog, so I’m trying to raise awareness in order to teach people what is not appropriate. Dogs can be easily distracted and they’re supposed to be paying attention to the person they’re servicing, so if you pet it, that’s a distraction and it’s harmful to the disabled person.” Jay has been invited by the Broward county library system to come in and speak to the children about service dogs and how to take care of and understand their pets.
There’s are people who love animals and a few special people who are considered dog whisperers . . . Jay is certainly both!
All rights reserved. This article is re-printed from Lighthouse Point Magazine with permission from the editor.
***
Editor’s Note: THANKS to Marla E. Schwartz for contributing this special story this month! For “Pet Talk,” Frances Goodman will return next month with more pet advice.
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz has been a professional journalist since she was a teenager.She’s a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, and a freelance writer for CRAVINGS South Florida in Aventura, as well as Around Wellington Magazine, Lighthouse Point Magazine, and P.A.N.D.O.R.A.An avid photographer, her images have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Around Wellington Magazine, Lighthouse Point Magazine,Miami Living Magazine, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post.She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country.Her short play, America’s Working? was originally read at First Stage in Los Angeles and in the same city produced at the Lone Star Ensemble.It was then produced at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL and taken to an off-Broadway playhouse by its producers Adam and Carrie Simpson.Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. She has also written a handful of screenplays with one opted for production a few years ago.Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
Speaking about Playmobil, a Few Words from Founder Horst Brandstätter
On Saturday, March 27th at Playmobil FunPark in Palm Beach Gardens, the owner/inventor of Lechuza indoor planters and Playmobil toys, Horst Brandstätter , visited from Germany to cut the ribbon on the beautifully re-modeled new Playmobil castle. Brandstätter cut the ribbon and then shared a few words with us. For more information about the event, see our “Photo Galleries.”
It was a Thursday night and The Office was coming on in two minutes, which meant that the only place you’d normally find me would be on the sofa waiting for the show to start. Except I wasn’t there. And things were far from normal.
Instead of settling in to catch one of my favorite sitcoms, I was in front of my computer scanning a picture of an old family pet that everyone had long since forgotten, so I could post it on Facebook. Why in the world would I bother to do this you ask? Well, if you really need to know, it’s because my brother Jim had posted two other old photos of family pets on Facebook leading my cousin Dawn to speculate about the name of a dog that we kept in a coup outside a corral fence by the barn in our backyard.
So there you have it. I had a perfectly logical reason for my actions . . . or at least that’s what I tell myself. But then, you tell yourself a lot of things to justify your bizarre behavior once you’ve turned into a love slave of the Facebook gods.
Facebook addicts will confirm that it all starts innocently enough. In my case, the ad agency I worked at wanted me to become more familiar with social media and suggested I get a Facebook page up and running. I got it “up” alright, but “running” would be a generous way to describe my initial activity level in the land of social media. For months, my Facebook page sat frozen – just another lifeless mannequin posing in the cyberspace storefront. Meanwhile, I noticed that several of my co-workers had already amassed a couple hundred “friends” in their Facebook networks while my network still consisted of my colleague Stu down the hall, our receptionist, my brother Jim and sister-in-law Sandy, and someone pretending to be Mystery Science Theater head writer Michael J. Nelson.
Sensing I actually needed to “do something” to get more out of my Facebook experience, I started posting short, thought-provoking messages on my home page wall like the following:
What is the purpose of Chinese buffets? Do we really need a choice of 29 different chicken and rice dishes?
FACT: When handed a new pen to try, nine out of ten people will write their own names. The tenth person will write “Bon voyage Mimi.” No one knows why.
Is it “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” or “the flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak”? I’m getting pretty tired of the spirit and the flesh pointing fingers at each other and bickering about who’s a team player.
Anyway, you get the idea. This approach, of course, failed miserably and cut my network of friends from eight down to four. I even lost the fake Michael J. Nelson. After another long period of Facebook inertia, I was on the brink of pulling the plug on my woeful little page when the following short sentence posted to my wall caught my eye:
Alan and Andy McGrane are now friends.
Hello. It was my good buddy Andy. The real Andy. The Andy I had struggled to keep in touch with in the years since he moved away. Suddenly, Facebook’s potential to connect and keep up with friends and family hit me like a pie in the face thrown by some cosmic prankster/pie-maker. A slew of similar messages followed.
Alan and Eric Williamson are now friends.
Alan and Kristen Williamson are now friends.
Alan and Rachel Williamson are now friends.
Alan and Marjorie Bornkamp Williamson are now friends. (Hi Mom.)
Alan and Dawn Bornkamp Barbacci are now friends.
Alan and Sue Calia are now friends.
Before I knew it, I had an entire family reunion at my fingertips whenever I wanted it. The compelling upshot of that unprecedented possibility was that I wanted it more and more. I wanted to see the rare picture my brother posted of our long-gone grandfather and Great Aunt Shirley. I wanted to see (and poke fun at) the profile picture my mom posted of her as a patriotic four year old saluting the photographer. I wanted to trade wisecracks on family photos from years gone by showing alarming hair styles and drop-dead hilarious fashion statements.
Most of all, I wanted to enjoy the new world of quick and easy conversations that Facebook made possible with relatives I hadn’t had contact with in years. Consider this recent exchange with my cousin Dawn after I posted a picture of me running a 5K race during my college days.
Me: This showcases my ability to pass older, heavyset guys and young children during the home stretch.
Dawn: r u wearing JOX sneakers?
Me: I don’t think so – back then I wore Pumas a lot.
Dawn: Classic blue suede-ish style . . . nice.
See? Nothing earth-shaking or newsworthy. But that’s precisely the beauty of it. With Facebook, suddenly you’re sitting at a family reunion and that dusty old photo album that someone flips open starts the quips and comments flying.
Which brings me back to that Thursday night when I almost missed an episode of The Office while posting a photo on Facebook of a dog my grandmother Bessie gave us because he was eating all her furniture. The dog’s name was Thor and we kept him in the backyard by the barn where furniture was scarce and the chances to bark at horses and whiffle ball-playing kids were unlimited.
Somewhere, in that big dog coup in the sky, I’d like to think Thor is looking down at his Facebook photo album and thinking:
“Nice family reunion guys – thanks for remembering me. And while I have everyone’s attention, I just want to set the record straight: I only ate furniture when Bessie forgot to feed me.”
Alan Williamson is an award-winning writer with 27 years in the field of true fiction (advertising). A practical man who knows that writing for a living is risky going, he has taken steps to pursue a second, more stable career as a leggy super model. Alan can be reached at alwilly@bellsouth.net.
We all have them, as much as we are in denial and reluctant to acknowledge.It’s the monster in the house that’s never mentioned.What is it?It’s known as the catch all, the place that should be cordoned off as a crime scene and where the ‘I don’t know what to do with this’ items go to retire; also known as the spare room.These seemingly uncontrollable beasts have spawned a slew of reality based television shows where a crew of experts come into the unorganized home and transforms a room or even the entire house back to a livable space.Evidence that it’s not just you who has been seduced by the excessive consumerism that seems to be an off-shoot of an affluent society.It’s created a whole new industry where organization is the new hobby and in some cases, a profession.
In my efforts to tame my unruly monster, which I’ve taken to calling ‘Bedlam’, I’ve set myself the task of once and for all purging my spare room of all the paraphernalia that’s been stored there over the years.The intention is to be better off than when I started because I’m at a point where it’s not an option for it to grow ever bigger and more unruly.And what better time to get started than the time of year that signifies renewal and reawakening – Spring{!
How to approach Bedlam?Very carefully, albeit with courage and determination.And the reward?Hopefully, a habitable, functioning space and the relief and satisfaction of having tamed Bedlam into one you can live with as a healthy contributor to your home rather than as a source of disquiet and stress.
I had intend to chronicle my daily monster training activities for two weeks but decided that would be as tedious to read as it may be to write.Instead, I’ve summarized some of the observations made and lessons learned as I went through this process.
Before I started my purge project, I determined what I wanted to use the spare room for and designated areas for specific uses.I had a corner where the computer would stay and built my home office area there.I also wanted a crafting area which would primarily be set up as storage and a work surface.I also needed a space for ironing clothes and it had to have an unobstructed view of the television.Ironing is not very entertaining.Some people use the extra space as a guest room or play room.This really helped to organize the room and I was able to plan for the storage I would need once I knew where everything belonged.
My approach was to divide and conquer.This is possibly the only way to keep from feeling overwhelmed.Well, denial works too, but there comes a time when Bedlam can’t be denied any longer.Breaking down the entire project into manageable tasks was really important to my success since the feeling of being overwhelmed was the one thing that had kept Bedlam well-fed to the extent where it could not be contained any longer.
The first part of this process was to set aside a small amount of time every day that I could commit to the task.Between fifteen and thirty minutes each day is usually all it takes.A timer can be helpful to keep you on track.Of course if you go a little over because you’ve hit a stride or can’t quite make the fifteen minutes because you haven’t got it in you that day, it’s all okay.The important thing is to devote some time to Bedlam every day.
It’s also helpful to minimize the potential for distractions by choosing a time of day where you’re sure to not be interrupted.Being called away because your two-year-old wondered how far he could shove a raisin up his nose warrants immediate attention and will effectively squelch attention to Bedlam for that day.
The next step I took in dividing and conquering was to sort my items into appropriate groups.These can be specific to an ultimate goal, but generally fall into a few categories:Keep, Toss, Give Away or Sell.Between keep and toss, the rule of thumb I adopted is anything I had not used in one to two years was a good candidate for the toss pile. Some common sense applies here as there are some exceptions such as documents used to prepare tax returns and of course important identification documents and papers.When disposing of sensitive documents such as pay stubs or credit card statements, be preventative and shred them before recycling.
Once I had decided between keep and toss, I had to decide where to toss:Sell, Donate or Garbage.The condition of items usually determines in which bin they will be placed.
One thing I learned is that re-organization is not the same as organization.Moving one pile from one place to another or breaking it down to smaller piles did not prove to be a very effective way of eliminating Bedlam.By the third day, when Bedlam was not looking any smaller than when I started, I decided some tough love was in order.My solution became “If I held it, I had to immediately and definitively put it in the category it belonged – no questions asked and no looking back.If it was a keep, it would immediately be put in its place.An item that was ‘toss’, ‘sell’ or ‘give away’ was put in a bin outside the room.This included the book on home organization that had been buried under a stack of other books I had intended to read.There is no place for sentimentality when purging.This includes everything from the kids’ schoolwork to chintzy memorabilia and baby clothes.My compromise with myself was to allow myself to keep one or two significant items for each category and let the rest go.Because really, do you think your daughter is going to remember (or even want to keep) all those test papers and daily assignments above the Math project for which she interviewed you and everyone she could tackle?I couldn’t even list half of what I got rid of – that’s how much it meant to me!
Upkeep is an essential key to preventing Bedlam from moving back into your home.I routinely sort the incoming mail right at the recycle bin in the garage before bringing it into the house rather than putting it in a pile to deal with later. I will also think twice before making a new purchase asking myself if it is a want or a need.Honesty is crucial here.The old adage, ‘A place for everything and everything in its place,’ can go a long way to helping stay organized.None of these habits are very time consuming, but go a long way towards saving you a lot of time and unnecessary headaches.Remember the keys you’re always looking for?I’ve found a simple solution is to have a key hook placed at the door you use most often when entering and leaving your home.
As I came to the end of my experiment, I can say that I was very satisfied with my efforts.My Bedlam is going to take a little more time and attention, but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it was when I started.If I, who is a self-proclaimed master procrastinator can do this, then really and truly, anyone can.
While embarking on this project there are some helpful tips I came across that may serve as motivation.Women, being social beings are more prone to success when a task is attempted en masse.As with diets and attempts to exercise, success for de-cluttering may be more achievable with a buddy.Not only are you now accountable to someone else, you are in a race to accomplish your task before your de-clutter buddy which is a great incentive to keep you on track.You can also share ideas and tips you have learned through your own experiences.Perhaps you can take turns with each other’s monster where you both can tackle the beast together, keeping in mind the object is to pare down the amount of ‘stuff’ and to not add to your own.So that pretty floral basket encrusted in ribbons and dust should stay in the toss pile and not in your ‘found’ pile.
Participate in Spring Cleaning events that may be held at your child’s school, in your community or at church, or plan one yourself.The same rule applies here as with the buddy system:the object is to give, not receive.There are many places where there is need and if you have something you’re not using that may benefit someone else, the sooner it’s donated, the better.
Now that I have the wisdom of my experience, what’s next?Well, there’s a certain closet under the stairs that’s making some strange noises.I wonder what it could be?
Places to recycle old equipment including old computers and peripherals:
1)Best Buy will accept most of your old equipment including ‘TVs, DVD players, computer monitors, audio and video cables, cell phones, and more’; visit www.bestbuy.com for more details
2)Office Depot Tech Recycling Services
Available for purchase are a small, medium or large box that you can fill with old phones, computers, printers, cords, etc. and drop off at your local Office Depot; for more details, visit www.officedepot.com
3)The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has some good information and links to places where you can recycle or donate your old electronics.
Shakira is Mom to two vibrant children who have taught me as much as I hope to have taught them.I love to keep active biking or playing sports with my kids and also enjoy knitting or reading when I get the chance to.I’ve always loved to write as a hobby and am relishing the opportunity to contribute to AroundWellington.com.
Lighten Up With Lisa
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of 
