Home Sanctuary

Turn in February Points!

Oh my word. February has really sneaked (snuck?) past. But to be honest, I don't really mind because I'm anxious for Spring to arrive. March is stacking up to be a full month as well, and before we know it, we'll be enjoying new blossoms and and green leaves. YAY!

Today, we'll be turning in the points we've earned in February. if you've been playing along, these are the prizes we've been playing for:

The Most Points Winner will receive my handmade vintage chalkboard tray. Just in time for a spring brunch, this lovely gift would look lovely with a menu written on it, or maybe even a simple, inspiring word, like DREAM!

Or, EAT!

Totally up to you, girlfriend.

A Vintage Silver Tray Chalkboard

You can choose what you'd like on it - over and over again, as many times as you'd like! That's the beauty of chalk.

The Random Drawing Winner will receive a copy of a book I enjoyed recently, Sanctuary, by Pamela J. Bailey:

Pamela Bailey shares some great ideas and Biblical insights into making your house truly a home - something that's on all of our hearts, right? I know you'll be blessed by this book, and I've already dog-eared a couple of pages for you :).

Today's Small Thing is two steps:

1. Email your point total number to me at [email protected].  Just sharpen your pencil and add up what you've done this month! Please be sure that you only give yourself points for the tasks you completed on the days they were assigned (or within the timeframe given). No cheating and "catching up" all at once on the last day! That would defeat the whole purpose of daily Small Things, right??

If you simply want to be entered into the Random Drawing, let me know in an email as well. Anyone is eligible for the drawing...no adding of points required.

2. Leave a comment, letting us know which Small Thing you enjoyed/needed the most this month.  This is a fun way to nudge the fence-sitters to go ahead and jump in next month. See?  It's fun!!

You even get points for doing today's Small Thing.

POINTS: 40 for the two steps: sending your email, and leaving a comment...good toward February's total. If you've already won for Most Points previously, you won't be eligible to win again, sorry. I'll collect points/emails until midnight tonight CST. 

Song of the Day: February Song, Josh Groban

Company Girl Coffee 2.25

First off: there is no Small Thing today. Just because.

Happy Friday!

I liked how that Blog Hop worked last week, so I think it's a keeper. What do you think? I enjoy seeing the hop on everyone's blogs...we'll keep doing it this way.

Not sure how this works? Simply enter your blog URL into the form below, then click on the link to put the list on your own site. You'll copy and paste it into your blog post. You don't have to have a fancy post prepared...simply link up and invite people over to your blog.

Small note about CG Coffee that I worry about every week. I have the BEST of intentions to get around to visit each linked blog and reply to all comments, but my weekends are crazy, ya'll. I hate not getting to stop in to say hello regularly, but I can't always do it....and that bothers me because I miss being able to do that. But please don't let that stop you from enjoying EACH OTHER'S company - I love seeing the conversations between you all on your own blogs....and it makes me happy to know that you are getting to know each other better. I'll keep trying to get around, but I really appreciate your understanding!

Did you have a chance to do some "Before and After-ing" yesterday? For some reason, that Small Thing was really motivating for me as I cleaned the bathroom, washed dishes, made the bed and straightened the living room. It's like I expected HGTV to stop in and photograph my handiwork, so I put extra effort into those mundane tasks. I felt proud of my accomplishments, even though they were small. I hope some of you will post your before and after experiences - photos would be awesome to see.

Now, if you have trouble putting the code into your post from the link, try this one (for non-java script blogs):

<p><b>Powered by Linky Tools</b></p><p><a href="http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=77816&type=basic">Click here</a> to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...</p>

Have a great weekend!

Fun Song of the Day comes recommended by Anna Marie (thanks!): Mushaboom, Feist

Makeover Madness

The other day, I made a cute chalkboard out of an ugly, outdated wall print.

 

I like it so much that I moved it to the kitchen to display a memory verse:

Even though this was a super easy makeover that I (actually) finished, many makeover projects are even easier than this. It's just that I forget to see those projects as "makeovers." If I did, they'd take on a whole new excitement!

Today's Small Thing is to perform makeover magic of your own. No paint required. All you need is a "before" and "after" to enjoy the results. Examples:

• Before: messy living room
• After: clean living room

• Before: sink full of dirty dishes
• After: sparkling sink, dishes put away

• Before: unmade bed
• After: bed neatly made, including the cute pillows

• Before: toys all over floor
• After: toys in baskets, shelves or closet

• Before: haggard and smelly
• After: showered, clean and make up on

See, makeovers aren't just for lucky people on HGTV! You can create your own makeover magic without spending one dime.

What kind of makeover can you do today? Can you get your kids to do a makeover by letting them take "before" and "after" photos of say, their rooms? (Tricky, huh?)

Let's make this fun:

Each!

POINTS 30 per makeover, up to 8 - that's 240 points possible. Why not get the kids to help you earn your points! (This would make a great blog post for tomorrow's CG Coffee!)

Share your makeover ideas!

Song of the Day: Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Leave Me in Stitches

I went to put on a pair of pants the other day and found that the hem had come out. I hate it when that happens. Usually, if something needs mending, it will sit (literally) forever until to get around to fixing it...and sometimes I never get to it.

Or, I use safety pins or duct tape for a "temporary" fix that, unfortunately, becomes permanent. I have a couple pairs of pants with taped hems that have been that way so long, I don't ever plan to do a "real" hem anymore. Hey, it's working.....

Today's Small Thing is to mend or stitch something - with an actual needle and thread.

You can patch, stitch, wheedle and needle today.  OK, you could cheat and use fusing tape, if you are so inclined.  Fix a button, a snap, a hem or a zipper...you decide what to mend or sew! If you're a crafter, why not earn points for quilting, needlepoint or crocheting?  Let's count that, too, darn it!

POINTS: 50 for leaving something in stitches. What will you mend or stitch today?? I wanna know!

Song of the Day: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?

Front Man

Front man: (n.) A man who serves as a nominal leader but who lacks real authority.

There are some folks who like to make you think they do all the work so they can take all the credit. My dishwasher door is one of them. He's a front man.

Oh, he's got the fancy buttons that light up: Eco Wash, Pots and Pans, Regular Wash, Heat Dry, Air Dry....even Delay Start and Start. He's impressive all right.

But the real work takes place behind him, after he's locked in place and motionless. The upper and lower arms that jet hot water onto the dirty dishes and scrub them with their power. The soap dispensers that know exactly when to release their magic liquid. The drain that carries away the crumbs and baked on spaghetti. The heating element that dries the dishes until they are sparkling. THESE are the real heroes of the machine.

But the front man is the public leader of the organization and I guess we can give him SOME credit. He makes the hard-working crew look smooth and functional. Professional and efficient. In today's world, we know how important PR is, and that's what the dishwasher door does: puts a good face on a dirty job.

Today's Small Thing is to give your dishwasher door a PR boost. Give him a nice wipe-down, clean the inside of the door, (especially around the rubber seal), get those nooks and crannies looking spiffy! With a shiny new demeanor, your front man will exude a confidence in the whole operation that says to dirty dishes, "BRING IT."

40 POINTS!

POINTS: 40 for cleaning up your dishwasher door

What does your dishwasher door look like?

Song of the Day: My Front Door is Open, Hank Thompson

Spork!

 

 

Someone was really thinking when they came up with the idea of a spork.  It's the eating utensil that combines the spearing capability of a fork with the scooping capability of a spoon. The darling of airline food service, backpackers, and Kentucky Fried Chicken (oh sorry, "KFC"), the spork is a model of efficiency and cost savings.

Today's Small Thing is to do some sporking of your own.  Actually, you'll get to take the rest of this week to work on this one, because it will take a little bit of creativity.

The idea is this:  see how many ways can you combine tasks to be more productive, and save time and money.  It's not so much multi-tasking as it is pre-planning.

 Here's what I mean. 

• Do you find yourself running errands almost every single day?  Plan just one or two errand days and combine your jaunts to make fewer trips. 

Side note:  When my kids were younger, I found that I needed at least 2 days aweek that I did not go anywhere in order to get things done.  I realized that I was running errands out of sheer boredom (and lack of planning), and a "quick trip" to the store would eat up most of a day.  No wonder I was bogged down! 

• Maybe you could chop vegetables for tonight's meal AND tomorrow's meal.  Great combo.

• Make scouring your sink part of finishing up dishes.  Really, it takes less than a minute.

• Do you exercise by taking walks?  I don't, but if I did, I would download a book, scripture or sermon onto my ipod to combine improving my health with getting smarter.

• Teach your children to combine playing with picking up.  This is the best kind of spork EVER.

Combine discipline with love, good food with good conversation, cleaning with music, and napping with a soft pillow.  Schoolwork with encouragement, chores with rewards, and picking up with straightening. Your man might even like to try sporking with you, but I'll let you figure that one out.

See?  Sporking is fun! 

POINTS: 50 for using at least three ways to spork this week!

Feel free to share your ideas!  Help us spork!

Song of the Day: You Got Me, Colbie Caillat

Skin

 

Isn't skin amazing?

Only God have come up with the idea of wrapping our bodies in an elastic layer that would not only hold our guts together, but would also give us our identities.  Genius!  From beautiful inky black, to mocha brown, milky white and freckled, skin is like pretty wrapping paper on a present.  It stretches and moves, protects us and even changes as we go through stages of life.

Skin breathes and absorbs, is durable and yet tender.  It feels and senses and renews itself.

Why is it that we take skin so for granted?

You know, without skin we'd be a mess.

Today's Small Thing is to pamper your skin.  This is perhaps the nicest Small Thing we've ever done, and there are probably many of you jumping up and down for joy at this very moment.

I know I am.

We KNOW should take better care of our skin, but who has the time, really?  I'm in and out of the shower, throwing makeup on without moisturizer, pulling socks up over scratchy legs and washing dishes like I'm on KP duty in the army.  I ache for a little personal luxury, but I press on like dried up old martyr. Shriveled, parched and in severe need of exfoliation.

 

• You could give yourself the Supreme DeLuxe: a facial, a soak in a tub and body buttah from head to toe.

• You could give yourself the Royal Hand Treatment:  Globs of lotion, massaged in, layer after layer.

• You could concentrate on feet, elbows and knees.  These are the athletes of the body, always working but never getting pampered.

• Try a new moisturizer, lip balm or scalp treatment.  Find something that smells yummy!  

Do whatever you want, just make your skin feel good to be alive.

POINTS: 50 for taking a few minutes to take care of your epidermis. Remember, you need to create a little bit of sanctuary for yourself, too!

Let us know: what's your favorite lotion, moisturizer or skin treatment?  How will you spoil your skin today?

Song of the Day: I've Got You Under My Skin, Michael Buble

Company Girl Coffee

Introducing the Blog Hop Linky!

This week, we are going to try a little twist on our weekly link-up. The "Blog Hop" means that when you can copy the code into your own blog post, and the linky list will show up on your blog as well. People can join the blog hop from your blog, without having to come here at all.

I think this might be a fun way to do it - so let's give it a go! To participate in the Blog Hop, be sure that you put the Company Girl Coffee link into your post so people will know (code is in the right hand column of my blog), then enter your blog post URL into the box, and grab the linky code from the link below.

If you are not a blogger but would still like to "hop," you can simply visit any of the blogs, and leave a comment under today's post. Tell us about yourself, how long you've been reading Home Sanctuary, and maybe something you're working on (goal, craft, project, making babies, etc.). We'd love to get to know you!

 NOTE: if you're having trouble adding the code, try this one (for non-javascript blogs):

<p><b>Powered by Linky Tools</b></p><p><a href="http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=76093&type=basic">Click here</a> to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...</p>

 

Grand Central

Ridge Grand Central Station

I must have entryways on my mind these days. First it was the back door, now the front area.

This is our home's Grand Central Station on a good day.  Only one textbook on the table! Just one backpack!  But believe me, there are days that it looks like thousands of people have funneled through on their way to school and activities.  I've spared you that mess.

The one thing that never changes is the "traffic obstruction," permanently located right where you'll have to step OVER it.  Yeah, it's furry and it slobbers.

Our Grand Central isn't a well-planned feature of our house.  It's the back door that works as our front door because the front door is located where no one uses it. (See recent post)  Anyway, we trek right through this kitchen area every time we go anywhere, so naturally, all the baggage and paperwork from every trip gets dumped here if we aren't vigilant.

Where is YOUR Grand Central?  Do your travelers leave a trail of belongings behind them? 

Today's Small Thing is to do some maintenance duty in the depot.  Pick up the dropped ticket stubs and trash, the overcoats and hats, the bags and luggage that weary commuters leave "for later." 

It will feel so good to walk into your station and NOT be greeted by a train wreck!  You might even feel like canceling your next trip in order to enjoy some terminal beauty.

 

POINTS: 40 for depot duty

Song of the Day: Pennsylvania 6-5000, Syd Lawrence

No Small Thing Today

Hi Sweet Company Girls!

I spent yesterday working on a project until about 10 pm, when I couldn't see straight anymore. I'm off to a meeting this morning so there is no Small Thing to do. Enjoy your day!

What do you have on your schedule for today?? What's a "regular" day for you? (Or is there such as thing as a "regular" day?) :)

Have a good one, love Rachel Anne