I apologize for now getting that song stuck in your head – but what better way to kick off our week of “Just Keep Swimming” than being seranaded by Dory?
So what’s your Project for Day #1? Just write something down. That’s it. Now that’s not too scary, is it?
OK – let me be a little more specific.
I want you to spend some time writing down your dreams, your hopes, your “what if”‘s. All those someday things that you want to get to… someday. Brainstorm, be free! (Or if you want a little more direction, read my article on How to Create a 50/50 Journal.)
Now, I want you to pick one of those dreams, goals or crazy ideas, and post it here on the blog. I know, it’s a little scary. But trust me, this is a safe space. For every brave persone who posts their one thing (big or little, huge and crazy, or totally do-able,) I will enter you into the drawing for this journal:
It’s the same “Irish Blessing” journal that started this whole idea for me about writing my goals down.
So post something here by Wednesday at midnight and you will be entered into the drawing. And everyone who comments this whole week will be entered into our drawing for THE DORY AWARD. (The gian stuffed Dory from Finding Nemo.)
Well I sat at a red light at the corner of Pearl and Almaden Expressway here in San Jose, praying that the light wouldn’t turn green so I could snap this picture for you:
First off, I wanted to tell you about a book I just finished that I loved. It’s calledSaving CeeCee Honeycutt and it’s about a middle school girl from the north who is suddenly relocated to Savannah to live with an aunt she had only met as a baby.
It’s a bright, funny and witty story, told entirely from CeeCee’s vantage point. I love the look at life in the south and the strength of women in a young girl’s life.
My brilliant husband, Roger Lipp, has a great blog of tricks and tips for writers and speakers. However, today’s post can apply to us all: How to Organize Your To-Do’s featuring the book Getting Things Done.
Finally, stay tuned Monday through Friday for a Me Project Mini-Challenge. Everyday next week I will give you a project to start living out the plans God has for your life. Each day I will be giving away a great resource, and one lucky (and focused) blog reader will be awarded The Dory Award.
My sister-in-law, Lucinda, is one of my favorite people on the planet (and not just because she is the main caretaker to the cutest kid under 18 on the planet, my niece, Elsa…) She’s a great cook, a huge encouragement to my kids, and she puts up with my baby brother on a daily basis. A saint, really.
But little did I know the secret talents that my sister-in-law possessed in the stain-removal area. (Honed to perfection by the cute girl sliding down the tube, pictured…)
My mom told me, with great admiration in her voice, that Lucinda could “Get any stain out of anything.”
And since this blog is all about getting to the good stuff in life, I thought that if we all had a sure fire stain removal system, that could free up hours every year to do more exciting things like write a book, start a non-profit, or redecorate a room. (Or perhaps I am just REALLY bad at stain removal…)
Here is Lucinda’s surefire strategy:
How to Remove Laundry Stains
Spray with stain remover. Honestly – what kind doesn’t really matter. Pick your favorite and really douse it.
Rub and let set for a while. Patience is important here.
Put garment in 1/4 c of Oxi Clean and 1 gallons of water and let soak until you wash a load of clothes.
Wash with other like clothes.
Check the stained items before transferring them to dryer; if the stain is still visible put the garment aside and start the process over again (though the stains often come out even after going through the dryer). Sun exposure helps lighten stains.
Other note on how to remove laundry stains from Lucinda: “Peroxide with liquid laundry detergent works wonders on wine stains, and my mom even used it to clean a doggie vomit stain from her carpet. I rarely follow the advice of testing for color fastness on a section of fabric that is inconspicuous; I either try to get rid of the stain or just live with it.”
“I think it all comes down to a little elbow grease & persistence (like many things in life). Oh, and it is probably true that smarter women (and/or men) worry far less about the stains in their children’s clothes.”
I couldn’t agree with her last couple of sentences more…
I have had several people in my life, recently, who have been through the journey of cancer. Besides friends, my mom has had two cancers in the past couple of years (uterin and skin,) and has come through each of those situations with grace, healthy, and a fast recovery.
I know that many of you do not have such Lifetime Channel happy endings. Perhaps you are a caretaker or have a roll in a cancer patient’s life. I would like to offer a resource for you to check out.
Author Cynthia Siegfried. Cancer Journey: A Caregiver’s View from the Passenger Seat offers practical tips and spiritual guidance to people living with serious diseases. Most importantly, the author shows you how to find hope and even joy in the midst of spirit-crushing illness.
And now, a question for you – If you have been a caretaker when someone was ill, what did you most need support-wise? What could a friend do to take care of you – the caretaker?
I’ve had a dream. A dream about T-shirts. And I love how God can work out the silliest of dreams and bless some marriages along the way…
Here’s the story: Ever since I wrote THE HUSBAND PROJECT, I’ve wanted to have a T-shirt that says, “My Husband is a Hottie”. It seems like a simple enough dream, right?
Oy Vey.
I spent a lot of time getting in my own way, not feeling like I knew enough about T-Shirts, printing, etc. I was like that person who always says, “I want to write a book,” but never writes anything down.
Fast forward a couple of years and I innocently order a very cute sweatshirt from a company called DressBlessed.com and waited for my adorable sweatshirt to arrive. Instead, I got a call from the owner of the company, Jackie Fairleigh, double checking the size of the sweatshirt I wanted.
And that’s when I said, “Hey, while I have you on the line…”
Jackie, as an experienced T-shirt, sweatshirt retailer, gave me the low down on how to buy shirts, what to look for in a printer, what sizes to order, and even sent me samples of her own T-shirts so I could do this right. With the support of my ever-patient husband Roger, we went to a T-shirt printer, put down a lot of money,and now we have…
Isn’t that the cutest thing you have ever seen? (Modeled by my adorable, but reluctant, assistant, Sunnie…)
I love the shirts, they look great, they feel great, and the reactions from the husbands is OFF THE HOOK. (BTW – the secret is to not tell him about the shirt, just wear it one day and let the blushing begin…) And they are a hit. I just got them on the 11th of this month and we’ve already placed a reorder!
If you are interested in ordering a shirt (they run just a little on the generous size, so if you are between sizes, go for the smaller one…) you can go to my store to get your very own shirt. The are high-quality Hanes Pre-shrunk T-shirts that are soft and wonderful and designed for women. We have them in sizes from Small -2x Large.
Next week, we are going to be starting a 5-Day ME PROJECT Challenge. The challenge is to get started, just started, on a dream you have.
My dream was T-Shirts. That dream has come true. Now I’m on to the next dream.
What is one of the many dreams that you have? Share it here – it could be as simple as learning how to decorate a cupcake (which, upon further thought, might be really, really, hard. I wouldn’t know. I don’t know much about cupcakes except I like frosting…) or it might be as complicated as opening a bakery.
It has been a busy couple of years. Panic-inducing, crazy-making busy.
But this year (my just keep swimming year…) I am trying to figure out how to love my God more, love my husband better, be more present for my kids, live a nourishing life, and grow my business/ministry in healthy and God-reliant ways.
And that is where my garden comes in.
You see, I was challenged by someone important in my life that I need to have something outside of ministry and family in my life. I spend a lot of time trying to do for other people, and have not set up healthy ways of replenishing. (And watching a steady stream of Bravo TV doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.)
So when said person asked me what my hobbies are, I just stared back blankly.
“You know, what do you do for fun?”
Blank stare.
So this week, I’m trying to incorporate some fun into my life – the only problem? I kinda forgot what it looked like. So I started to think and dream and consider what I really loved to do that had nothing to do with writing or speaking.
And then that is when I saw the gardening magazine at Safeway. Score.
It has been a long time since I took a day off. But today I did. I spent some time with my magazine, and started to plan for my container garden this spring. Can I tell you how restoring it was to read about dirt, and tomatoes, and to take a pad of paper and just dream a little bit.
I would love to know what you do to have a little fun in your life. It scared me a bit that it took me so long to figure out what I needed. My question is this: As a grown woman with a family or a career or both, what do you do for fun?
Today – I want you to leave a Valentine in the comments – Tell me why you love that special person in your life – Declare your love to the world! And then give them the link! (Everyone love knowing they have been bragged on in public!)
And to each of you – Thanks for sharing your love and wisdom here. You each are a blessing to me.
Birthdays, Mother’s Day, and Valentines Day – the Holy Trinity of potential dooms days…
Every other commercial is setting up half the planet’s population for a disappointment in less than a week. The overriding theme? If someone doesn’t get you bling next Monday, you must not be loved.
Most men are not great at the whole “Huge expectations without any guidance” kind of days. (This is not to dis Roger, but I will say there have been a couple of times where I have just gone to bed until the day is over.”)
I want to make sure that you – and I – have a great day next Monday. Whether or not you have a grand love in your life. Whether or not that person pulls through this holiday.
Keep your Expectations Realistic – If your husband didn’t know how to shop last week, he didn’t figure it out this week. Know the people in your life and keep your expectation down to earth.
Ask for What You Need – If what you really what for Valentines Day is just some movie time with the one you love (husband, kid, friend) ask them in advance and don’t expect them to read your mind.
Plan your Own Valentines So what if after being direct and asking for what you need, you still don’t get the couple of totally reasonable things that you had hoped for. My advice? Plan on it.
Even the best of husbands can have a really hard time in the holiday department – and for many of the best women in the world there is no husband by their side to celebrate them.
Married or single, make sure you make some of your own plans for the day. Here are just a few of the ways you can celebrate you on this very special day.
Stock the fridge with the specialty tea that is too expensive for everyday.
Plan a girl’s day with someone else and celebrate each other.
Ask the man in your life (husband, boyfriend, brother, dad) to take your kids so you and your mom can have some time.
Buy your own expensive chocolate
Celebrate someone else you love (but not just your kids – a friend or a mentor)
I’m trying to make some big hairy changes in my life.
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that weight is an issue for me. I go up, I go down. I struggle. But this is my “Just keep swimming” year. I have been seeing a counselor who is helping me get at some of the habits I have in life that are keeping me from living the way that God designed me to.
It sounds all healthy and empowering. But sometimes, it gets just plain overwhelming. So my counselor, Julie, has been having me focus on just a couple of things at a time. One of those things? Not being on the computer at all hours so I can get to bed at a decent time and wake up in the morning without an Internet hangover.
And it’s been working. For the most part, I have been getting off the computer at 7 PM and it has helped a lot. Except in the area of blogging.
I’m so used to staying up late and blogging that I don’t even think about it until around 8 PM when I think, “YIKES, I didn’t blog again!!!” And then I would be super tempted to do it, just this once, and promise to start blogging during the day tomorrow. (Promise, really – just this one time.)
But I knew it wouln’t be just this once. And I knew that if I did it one night, it would be so much easier to do it again the next night, and then instead of building a habit of turning off my computer at 7:00, I was building a habit of not taking great care of myself.
So I didn’t blog. And I missed you.
But I started to build a habit. A good habit. Not a habit that all of you need to build. Just a habit that works for me. And today, I thought – I want to blog before I turn off my computer – not as a punishment, but because I missed you.
Totally worth it.
Are there any areas of your life where you’re trying to build a new habit? I would love to hear how you are building health into your life.
It’s the same “Irish Blessing” journal that started this whole idea for me about writing my goals down.
