I recently wrote about what happened when my empty nest got filled up again after my daughter finished college. This time I want to tell you how we made sure, before she even went to college, that her stuff wouldn’t live here longer than she would. When my daughter was packing up to go to college, I acknowledged that she might never live with us again. Like so many who experience a taste of life away from parents, she might…
Read more →My daughter Emily finished college last month, a semester early. We were very happy to have her back home. We were less excited to see the return of her stuff. Getting Emily packed up and off to college in a rented SUV in August of 2015 remains one of my less enjoyable family memories. It was the culmination of a summer of preparation and negotiation. She wanted to take much more than I thought she should. I think we met…
Read more →If you’ve ever donated money to a charitable organization, you’ve probably experienced the immediate and ongoing communications from that charity asking you for more money. While I understand the organization’s need to generate funds, it’s frustrating to me that this is how some of my donation is being used. Is it likely that, having just made a donation, I will make another one so soon? Well, maybe I would if I were disorganized and didn’t know how recently I had…
Read more →A few years ago, Marie Kondo made a splash with her best-selling book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. A Professional Organizer from Japan, Kondo exhorted her readers to get rid of any possession that didn’t “spark joy”. Her method of folding clothing vertically allowed for easy viewing and retrieval of items in drawers. (See my previous organizing tip: To Fold or Not to Fold.) Kondo is back in the news with her eight-episode Netflix series “Tidying Up with Marie…
Read more →I was working with a client a few days ago, and she came across her collection of unused gift cards. I suggested a way to use them. She was so excited that I decided to share the idea with you all. Why not send your unredeemed gift cards to the folks on your holiday gift list? If you haven’t been able to use a Barnes & Noble gift card, give it the book lover on your list. Never going to…
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