For instance, for years I've been trying to fold and arrange my husband's collection of tee shirts to fit in the top drawer of our dresser. Yesterday, I had the revelation that the drawer I use just below it was taller, hence roomier. And further revelation that I don't keep very much in that drawer. So I swapped them out. Now to see when Tom realizes the switch (he's away on yet another summer business trip.)
I've been letting my summer vacation get the best of me, and since I felt a boost was in order I resubscribed to FlyLady. For any who are familiar with our quest, it all began with both of us having our homes transformed through the directions FlyLady sent us.. oh! so long ago.
She reminded me why it was important to get up early. Why it was important to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Why to put my lace-up shoes on each morning. Why I need my routines! By "taking a vacation" from those little routines our house was being neglected. Not only that, but many of the things I enjoy doing (even those I don't enjoy but need to do) were being neglected as well.
So, once again, I'm following FlyLady's advice, taking little steps, and rediscovering the freedom that really does come from being diligent in the little things each and every day.
BTW, FlyLady had come a long way after all this time. I'm glad to see that she is still around to help people like us who are more creative at making excuses than just doing the work.
Check her out if you need a boost.
One more little thing ... our book. It needs to get back on track, and hopefully you all will help us get it marketed once it goes to "print." Any suggestions about the best venue (self-publishing, Kindle, print/mail out) would be well received.
My your own "little ways" keep you and your family moving toward sanctity!
Your Sister in the Trinity,
Yvonne
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Spam ... and not the canned kind
Hi all!
Happy Lent! We just returned from celebrating Confession (awesome priest for me) and a holy hour for vocations at our parish.
The headline is to share with any of you who might still be reading this list a way to get rid of spam from your email. One of my adult daughters recommended it to me, and it has worked.
Simple enough. Just change your password. Apparently accounts can get hacked by spammers. I switched mine for my gmail account and there are no more embarrassing ads in my spam box.
Hope you find this helpful.
Oh, and this Lent has been my own rediscovering TLW ... and the delight that comes from a home that hums along because of persisting to do the next little step along the way.
May the anticipation of Easter help you persist in your Lenten practices!
Your Sister in the Trinity,
Yvonne
Further notes (a week later) is that almost everything has halted. I used that particular email address when we lived in Peru, and I still receive Spanish language spam. They are definitely less jarring than what I was receiving!
Happy Lent! We just returned from celebrating Confession (awesome priest for me) and a holy hour for vocations at our parish.
The headline is to share with any of you who might still be reading this list a way to get rid of spam from your email. One of my adult daughters recommended it to me, and it has worked.
Simple enough. Just change your password. Apparently accounts can get hacked by spammers. I switched mine for my gmail account and there are no more embarrassing ads in my spam box.
Hope you find this helpful.
Oh, and this Lent has been my own rediscovering TLW ... and the delight that comes from a home that hums along because of persisting to do the next little step along the way.
May the anticipation of Easter help you persist in your Lenten practices!
Your Sister in the Trinity,
Yvonne
Further notes (a week later) is that almost everything has halted. I used that particular email address when we lived in Peru, and I still receive Spanish language spam. They are definitely less jarring than what I was receiving!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Changing habits
I was reflecting a little today on habits; specifically, bad habits; particularly, my bad habits, and it occurred to me that habits are precisely what Yvonne and I set out to help people build when we began The Little Way. We looked at it as developing routines or offerings that would help us accomplish the tasks of a wife and mother on a journey to sanctity. I think we had a good concept, but looking back, I have to wonder if we didn’t miss a foundational piece. In order to build good habits, the chances are very good that we need to change bad habits. It’s all well and good to say I’m going to do these five tasks every morning, but if I get sidetracked with five other things that I usually do every morning then I have made no progress.
I struggled with this very issue in my over 10 year quest to get healthy and lose weight. I knew how to eat right and I could do that sometimes, but other times, I would just get distracted with unhealthy choices that were in front of me or the convenience of fast food. I knew I needed to develop good habits, but I kept trying to do so as if the bad habits were the foundation and the good habits were something to be added on top of the foundation. It wasn’t until late last spring that I realized, the first thing I needed to do was get rid of the bad habits. My foundation was shaky at best and I really needed to go back and lay a solid foundation so I could begin building upward with good habits.
For me, with my diet, it took some pretty extreme measures to get a better foundation and to make some progress and I won’t get into those here because I’ve written about them ad nausea on my other blog; however, there are some principles that are worth mentioning. First, it took identifying a problem. Second, it took taking responsibility for my problem. Third, it meant I needed to stop making excuses. Fourth, I needed to confess it as the sin that it was. Fifth, I needed to accept God’s love and forgiveness. Some place in all of those steps, I needed to formulate a plan to break the old habits and replace them with new habits. Finally, I need to realize that because this was a sin that I struggled with most of my life, I need to be vigilant against it for the rest of my life. Perhaps it’s like a Twelve Step program, but I basically saw six or seven steps.
Coming back to my reflection today, my bad habits… what are the other bad habits in my life? I’m not going to do this as a personal assessment of all the things I do wrong. I’m sure I have family and friends that would be happy to tell me all of those things. But, as lent draws near, perhaps it is a good time to look at the bad habits in our lives that keep us from making good habits.
A friend of mine challenged me to read a particular reflection book during lent and I’m going to take that challenge, but in order for me to make a serious commitment to do so, I need to give up doing some other things that suck up my time and keep me from doing those things that I know will draw me closer to God.
What are your bad habits? What do you need to do to change them? Pick one or two for lent and really focus on replacing them with good habits. Remember, nothing will change until you do.
Sisters in the Trinity,
Marion
I struggled with this very issue in my over 10 year quest to get healthy and lose weight. I knew how to eat right and I could do that sometimes, but other times, I would just get distracted with unhealthy choices that were in front of me or the convenience of fast food. I knew I needed to develop good habits, but I kept trying to do so as if the bad habits were the foundation and the good habits were something to be added on top of the foundation. It wasn’t until late last spring that I realized, the first thing I needed to do was get rid of the bad habits. My foundation was shaky at best and I really needed to go back and lay a solid foundation so I could begin building upward with good habits.
For me, with my diet, it took some pretty extreme measures to get a better foundation and to make some progress and I won’t get into those here because I’ve written about them ad nausea on my other blog; however, there are some principles that are worth mentioning. First, it took identifying a problem. Second, it took taking responsibility for my problem. Third, it meant I needed to stop making excuses. Fourth, I needed to confess it as the sin that it was. Fifth, I needed to accept God’s love and forgiveness. Some place in all of those steps, I needed to formulate a plan to break the old habits and replace them with new habits. Finally, I need to realize that because this was a sin that I struggled with most of my life, I need to be vigilant against it for the rest of my life. Perhaps it’s like a Twelve Step program, but I basically saw six or seven steps.
Coming back to my reflection today, my bad habits… what are the other bad habits in my life? I’m not going to do this as a personal assessment of all the things I do wrong. I’m sure I have family and friends that would be happy to tell me all of those things. But, as lent draws near, perhaps it is a good time to look at the bad habits in our lives that keep us from making good habits.
A friend of mine challenged me to read a particular reflection book during lent and I’m going to take that challenge, but in order for me to make a serious commitment to do so, I need to give up doing some other things that suck up my time and keep me from doing those things that I know will draw me closer to God.
What are your bad habits? What do you need to do to change them? Pick one or two for lent and really focus on replacing them with good habits. Remember, nothing will change until you do.
Sisters in the Trinity,
Marion
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