Home Sanctuary

Entertainment Containment

I don't know about the "sitch" at your house, but we have a problem with stacks of DVD's, videos and games at ours. 

We have all the old Disney Classics and kids' movies on video (but where is the VCR???) that do us no good because technology has passed them by.  But there they sit in the TV cabinet, caught between shelf life and a land fill, whiling away their final days.

Then there are the DVD's, which have outgrown their rack and have spilled into piles in various locations in the TV area.  You couldn't wedge another skinny spine into their cabinet if your life depended on it. 

And let's not forget to mention the DVD's that have become separated from their cases, like homeless orphans collecting dust.  Those are stacked on top of the stack of cases that don't fit into the rack.

It all adds up to entertainment clutter.  Very Unsanctuary-like.

It will only take a few minutes to do Today's Small Thing, which is to straighten up the DVD's, videos and electronic games. Make them look a bit more presentable by reuniting the shiny discs to their cases and putting them away.  I may have to find another shelf to house the ones that are currently stacked up, but I have a feeling they'll enjoy standing up at attention again.

POINTS: 30 for straightening up the entertainment section--EASY!!!

Hip to be Square

Note: be sure and read the next post so you can see what inspired this Small Thing!

Today's Small Thing is for you rebels that don't like to be told what to do. 

Oh, yeah. You know who you are.

Today you get to pick not only what you are going to do, but how you are going to do it, where you want to do it and with whom (if anyone) you'd like to do it with.

Just one small caveat.

Your Small Thing has to have something to do with squares.

Squares, you ask?  Yes, squares.

You see, squares aren't the cool shapes, like triangles and octagons.  They're not the sexy circles and ovals, or the tall and debonair rectangles.  Squares are the level-headed, even tempered geometrics that don't get featured much in art or movies or landscaping.  Although they've got a corner on seeing things from all the right angles, their quiet simplicity is no match for the edgy trapezoids with their bold use of linear adventure.  Squares don't get invited to parties with the A-List triangles or the powerful pentagons, they just go about their business of being solidly basic...day after day.

I think it's time we gave squares their own Small Thing. 

So what can you do with squares? Let me give you a few ideas and then I'll cut you loose to see what you can come up with!

• Of course, there is food: make waffles or lemon squares.  Brownies make excellent squares.
• Do some quilting.
• Make a scrapbook page featuring squares.
• Use sugar cubes in your tea.
• Write a thank-you note on a square note card.
• Straighten up those square pillows on your couch.
• Play checkers or chess...the board has all the squares you could possibly need!
• Clean some window panes.
• Play hopscotch or 4 Square.
• Eat 3 square meals today, instead of skipping them.
• Do a craft out of felt squares.
• Set out some pretty square soaps.

You don't have to get complicated...just have fun thinking outside the box today!  Sanctuary is all about finding the surprises in each day, no matter what shape or size they come in.  See, when you start deliberately looking for a shape, or a blessing, or a daily grace, you will start finding them everywhere.

Okay, now the ball is squarely in your corner! 

POINTS: 50...this one will get you a bunch of points today because it requires a little thinking.

Do you have some hip square ideas to share?  Maybe we need a few more to inspire us!

Venetian Plaster Art Piece!

Girls, we finally finished installing the huge art piece yesterday!  Have a look at our project:

Here is the magnificent "W" hotel and luxury residences in downtown Dallas.

I won't bore you with photos of the hours and hours and hours of taping, applying the plaster, sanding, burnishing, buffing, applying stencils, buffing, waxing, buffing and waxing, then packaging and transporting to get to this:

Going Up! Thankfully we had a hydraulic lift to use!

Each of the 45 square panels was given a word in different language, stenciled in plaster, depicting a character trait of a Well Lived Life.  Latin phrases were overlaid.  My favorite one is translated: "Through difficulty, sweetness."  I believe this phrase (above) says, "If you can read this, you're overeducated."  No kidding, we had a little fun.

The chocolate brown plaster took almost two weeks to perfect, but Tom nailed the color to match Sherwin Williams "Black Bean."

The final look.  The completed piece is 20 feet high by 10 feet wide.  Each panel was given a beautiful label on the back, with the word and its translation, signed and numbered.

I must give my husband Tom complete credit for the work that went into this piece.  I did very little of the actual artwork, outside of the original concept, researching and laying out stencils and otherwise being the helper-girl.  He hand-made each one and created something really spectacular. You would not believe his tenacity to make this piece so incredible.

Our client is thrilled with the result, and we are so honored to have this piece finished in such a beautiful location.  It really has been a work of the heart.

And now, for some rest!!

Oh The Irony

Being a big fan of ironic humor, I simply HAD to take a photo of this sign I pass nearly every day.  It never fails to give me a chuckle.

But I fail to see the humor in the irony that has plagued me, lo these past couple of weeks.  Here I am, writing all about organization, housekeeping and family life, when my own home keeping has been nigh unto a disaster!  This last art project has nearly killed us...another marathon weekend to top off a marathon week has had me doing less than the bare minimum around here.

I can hardly stand it. The dust, the dirty clothes, the clutter.  The bathrooms.  Ugh.

But irony is nothing new to me.  I've often thought I could be a really great mom if I didn't have so many kids.  I could have been an excellent secretary (back in the day) if people hadn't insisted on giving me stuff to do.  And I've sometimes spent more money trying to save money at Costco than I will ever admit.

Ironically, we can all spend a whole lot of time reading about how to get organized, but never really get around to simply picking things up.  And we can talk about how we want our homes to be beautifully decorated, and forget to pick some fresh flowers and bring them inside.  Or we can make the kids get outside and run around, while we sit in front of the computer all day.

Today's Small Thing is to put an ironic twist in your life by doing ONE THING that has been plaguing you.  Don't just look at pictures of healthy food...how about eating some fresh vegetables today?  Take the kids, who have been annoying you out of your mind, to an activity, and see if you don't have fun together!  If your marriage feels a little stale, why not rip off all your clothes and see what happens?

See, the irony of writing about Home Sanctuary and then not living it myself will get a kick in the pants today.  What ironic thing will YOU tackle today?

POINTS: 40

Welcome, A Soft Place to Land Visitors!

Kimba, at a Soft Place to Land, invited me to guest post while she is on vacation.  In a word, she has a LOVELY blog...full of beautiful ideas and resources to create a "soft place to land" for your family.  I just love it and am so honored to fill in for her today.

I hope you'll stop over and read my tale of a series of unfortunate events that was truly instrumental in our family's journey toward finding sanctuary.  It's funny how I get so busy yakking about the Small Things that I forget to share my own story, and it takes an invitation to write on someone else's blog for me to remember to tell you some of the things that are closest to my heart.

If you are visiting from Kimba's blog, WELCOME!  Have a look around, click on the tabs up above to see what this blog is all about, and have fun!  We'd love to have you join the "Company Girls" as we make our homes sanctuaries, one small thing at a time.

Rachel Anne

Company Girl Coffee 7.17

~UPDATE~

Girls, unfortunately, I have to attend a day-long business blah blah conference, and I won't have time to resurrect today's post and Mr. Linky!  Thank you for just jumping in and leaving your links in the comments!  You are a resourceful bunch!  I just love you.

~

OK, Typepad just lost my post for today.  WAAAAAAAH!  Stop in a little later and I'll have it REDONE.

And HEY!!! WHERE'S MR. LINKY?? He's not showing up! This is not a good way to start the day.

Pretend

I've heard that only 1 out of 5 people are "naturally" neat.

And I've actually met some of them.  They stare at you blankly when you mention "clutter" or "messy closets" because those things don't exist in their world.

Not surprisingly, I'm not close friends with any of them.

But we can learn a lot from the Neat People because they naturally do many things that should become habits for those of us who tend to be a little more on the messy side.

The biggest thing I can see that Neat People do is put things away as they go along.  They clean as they go.

They don't seem to start one project and leave all the crappola out for days on end while they tend to other things that have taken over their attention.  When dinner is over, the kitchen gets cleaned up.  When they make a sandwich, they actually put the PB & J back in the cupboard and the bread back on the shelf.  When they finish reading a book, they put it on the book shelf.  When they change clothes, they put the old outfit away in the closet.

AMAZING!  Each of those things may only take a few seconds or minutes as they go along, so their house never looks like a bomb exploded. 

I like that.  I envy that.

Today's Small Thing is to pretend you are Naturally Neat and put away anything you take out.  It's been said, "Fake it 'til you make it," and that's what we'll do today.  Simply be conscious of the things you take out and use....and then put them away when you are through.  Don't try and put away yesterday's mess because that might distract you from today's slop.  Just focus on wrapping each activity up by putting away each thing and you'll be on your way to being a Neatnik.  Then we can all be friends because we'll all be Neat Freak Company Girls!

POINTS: 50 big ones because this will take some concentration.

Do you forget to put things away?  What areas of your home challenge you?

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Do you ever stop to think about how far you've come? 

Most of the time, I'm thinking about how far I still have to go.  I get a little discouraged when I see mountains up ahead and I think, "I'm gonna have to have to climb those suckers??  Yeah, right."

And then something comes along.  Maybe a conversation, or a sight or a smell that reminds me of the past and where I've come from.  I remember the challenges I've faced in my faith and the mountains I've already climbed.  I remember the silly grudges I've held and the times when I've failed even myself. 

Somehow through all of that there has been a Faithful God.

He's changing me.  Molding me.  Creating something new.

With each failure, with each victory, with each passing day, I'm not who I was.

OK. I don't always know who I am TODAY, but I sure as shootin' am not the same person I was yesterday.

That's because He's taking the garbage I bring him and making it into something beautiful.  I can't always see what or how or why He's doing it, but He is.

Spend a few moments today reflecting on just how far you've come.  Forget for just a minute where you think you ought to be, and take joy in being right where you are.  Right where God wants you to be.

See. You're not who you were, either.

Today's Small Thing is about reflection.  Take a few minutes to clean the mirrors in your home.  Get them all shiny and clean!  And as you do, reflect on that girl in the mirror and the Faithful God who's never given up on her.

POINTS: 40 for shining up all the main ones

Want to share?  Leave a comment or write a blog post about not being who you were. If you blog it, be sure and let us know so we can stop over!

Contain Yourself

Lately, I've been seeing lids.

No, not the inside of my eyelids, silly.

Although.  I do love a good nap as often as possible.  (sshhh)

I'm seeing lids to containers and containers for lids...but alas! none of them fit each other!

Back in the day, when Tupperware had a monopoly on plastic storage, lids were interchangeable.  Of course, you had to take out a bank loan to buy a set of them at a home party, but Tupperware was an investment in the family food budget and came in all those great 70's colors.  My mom had some avacado green and harvest gold containers.  They still make great stuff.

But I like the disposable storage containers that I won't feel guilty about tossing when the contents start morphing into fuzzy creatures with alien colonies.  I won't even bother to open them...just a casual flick of the wrist and they're gone.  If only all problems were so easy to solve...

Only thing is that when I go to replace them I can never remember which brand I like, so I now have a conglomeration of similar containers and similar lids....yet few of them fit together.  It's so frustrating to have to rummage through every bowl and every top to find the one set that works.

Today's Small Thing is to check out your kitchen storage containers.  Are they all thrown in disarray in a drawer or cabinet?  Do you have a bunch of lids waiting to be matched with their container, only to realize that no container will ever come to them?  Put them out of their misery by tossing those lidless containers and containerless lids out, and making room for the pairs that actually work.   I've got a whole bin full of singles taking up precious space that I can get rid of today.

POINTS: 40 for organizing containers and lids.  If this job scares you because it seems too big, set a timer and give yourself 10-15 minutes MAX and then stop.  

BONUS: 20 for showing off!  Post "Before and After" pictures on your blog, drag a family member over to see your handiwork, tell a friend what you did, or leave a comment!  Enjoy the rush of container excitement when you see how organized you are!

Monday Morning Blah? Butter it up!

I was not born with the perky get-up-and-go personality that I so admire in others.  I feel gypped that it takes slugging down two giant cups of coffee to clear my head and begin to feel focused on the day.  Why, oh, why was I saddled with this deficient energy level, which causes me to prefer hunkering down under the covers for "5 more minutes" than jumping out of bed to tackle the day?

Mondays are always a challenge.  Last night, after a busy weekend, I knew I should get prepared for the week.  But we'd worked on our art project and I got behind on emails, answering new Company Girl requests and even stopping over for coffee with the girls who participated on Friday.  I was exhausted, so I just went to bed.  That meant waking up to the things I didn't finish over the weekend, as well as the new tasks for the day.

I'll bet that there are at least a few of you that can relate.

So Today's Small Thing is a very easy one.  You don't have to reorganize your entire life and redecorate the living room.  You don't have to prepare a lavish meal.  You don't even have to stand up to do this, if you don't want to.  You can do it sitting down....perfect for a blah Monday morning!

Today's Small Thing is all about butter.  All we are doing today is taking notice of our butter (or butter substitute) dishes and cleaning them.  Our butter dish gets messy and drippy and full of toast crumbs on a regular basis.  I've even found bits of broccoli in it, or smatterings of jelly left by a passing knife.

Butter dishes can look so pretty and sparkley on a well-set table.  But they can also be the white trash version, unkempt and disheveled...a smooth talker with a five o'clock shadow of crumbs.  Cleaning up your dish (or tub) will really get your Monday on the right track and make you feel slick.

POINTS: 30 for buttering up your day.  Remove or replace the butter stick and wash the butter dish, or wipe around the edges of your butter tub.  If you aren't a butter person, clean up your substitute's container and give yourself a small pat.