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August 7, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

The pineapple has long been the symbol of hospitality. In the early settlements of Williamsburg, VA because of the expense of the pineapple, it was a symbol of special treatment if the hostess displayed one during your visit.

The pineapple is my favorite motif because it symbolizes for me the sense of specialness I want the people in my life to feel when they are in my home. What I do in my home ~ decorate, organize, work, teach, cook, clean, sew, plan ~ I do for the people in my life. It’s all about the people!

I desire that the pineapple will be the hallmark of my blog ~ that when you visit to “walk and talk” with me down Pineapple Lane, we will learn the essence of hospitality for the people in our lives.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

National Procrastination Week

March 5, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

Here we are in March, and this month hosts National Procrastination Week. There seems to be some confusion over when exactly that week is. Many places list this week as occurring during the second week of March, but many are listing it as the first week.

Perhaps National Procrastination Week is really the first week of March, and it just gets put off until the second week. :) Oh my!

There are loads of sites on the internet with advice about procrastination, or should I say, about not procrastinating. Advice like:

1) Do the hardest or most dreaded task first.

2) Tell yourself you’ll work ten minutes on a project. The psychology behind this tip is that if you invest ten minutes in the project, you are likely going to stay with it until it is completed.

3) Utilize an accountability partner ~ have a friend check up on you to see if you actually did the dreaded project.

4) Understand why you are procrastinating and overcome. The whys range from fear of failure to feeling/being inadequate for the job to receiving no benefit from the task. Dealing with the whys may take a lifetime. But dealing with the project will probably only take minutes or hours.

I’d like to take a slightly different view of procrastinating. I have done my share of procrastinating in my life time, and I am in the category of those who believe that they work better under pressure. It is easier to stay focused when you are under a time restraint.

I’d like to chalk up my short attention span to years of child rearing. Any mom knows what I’m talking about. You only get to have five to ten minutes of concentrated effort on any one thing before a child needs you. Focus interrupters are a need to go “potty,” the need for a cookie, “he took my toy” or some really time altering event like “I feel sick.” There’s nothing like a sick child to change your priority list in a hurry.

Working under pressure means I get to say to the others in my life, “I really need to get this done. You will need to ask your father.”

I also admit to liking to work in the late night hours ~ less distractions, deeper thinking. But I digress.

Back to a different view of procrastinating. The reasons given for putting things off to a later time generally center around ourselves and our needs or comforts. Perhaps we would be less prone to procrastinate if we considered the effects on others, not ourselves.

When I think about myself, I reason that it doesn’t affect anyone but me; I’m the only one under pressure. When we finally finish the procrastinated project, we have this euphoric feeling of accomplishment. We cross the item off of our to-do list and continue on our way without another thought. The project is completed; end of story.

BUT . . . did our procrastination adversely affect anyone else? Stop a minute and think about it before you answer.

When I’m up late at night working on projects, my energy level is effected the next day which does affect my family. The project is completed without any effect on them, but the aftermath does affect others.

Another example (and a pet peeve) of aftermath effects of procrastination is when people do not respond to invitations with R.S.V.P.’s. Most common is that people do not respond at all, but even those who respond late have created difficulties for the hostess. How many should the hostess prepare for; how much food will be needed; how many tables and chairs will be needed; how much money should be  budgeted for unknown amounts of people, food, etc.? Even the late responses create difficulty for the hostess in that she has deadlines to meet with vendors. The procrastination creates difficulties for vendors when the hostess keeps changing the amounts needed.

You can see the ripple effect of procrastination. If we could see the effect that our procrastination has for other people, would that motivate us to not procrastinate?

So whether you celebrated National Procrastination Week this first week of March or the second week of March, let’s not procrastinate any longer. Let’s think of others as our motivation to get things done ~ just like you do as a mom. We don’t put off potty training, nourishing our family, tending to the sick or building relationships because it’s hard, or takes too much time or can’t be done perfectly. And honestly sometimes the benefits don’t even show up for a while. We do the things we do for others.

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National Time Management Month ~ Planners

February 25, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

I have one last thought for February’s National Time Management Month.

I had in my mind that one day I was going to develop a planner. But if you look around on the internet briefly, you will find more planners than you can even review. Must be that everyone else was thinking what I was thinking, “I will develop one that fits my lifestyle.”

I surveyed a networking group concerning the planners they used. Only one out of the 30 was satisfied with their planner. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one unhappy.

But with all the choices in planners that help us with our time management, you would think that each of us could find at least one that that fit our lifestyle. I did mention before that you should find a planner that fits you and use it. Alas!

Here is my suggestion: “click” on over to www.levenger.com and look at their offerings. I consider Levenger to be the Cadillac of planners. You may think that the price is what I mean by my Cadillac reference, but it is not. The price compared to the design and quality is right in line.

Have you priced a planner in the office supply store lately? I almost choke when I see the price sticker on those thin little appointment books  that do not actually do everything you need them to do. Is that really helping our time management?

But Levenger is a “design-it-yourself” kind of planner with the unique feature that allows pages to be moved around or removed. It is a clever design and you can load the book with whatever configuration of pages that works for you. So you can make it fit you.

As an aide for all you perfectionists  out there ~ perfectionists  hate to have “messed up” pages to look at all year. You know the ones where you had to cross out lines or “x” out paragraphs. All perfectionists  know exactly what I’m talking about. Maybe here is an answer for keeping a “perfect” looking planner all year.

If you are unsure if you will like this new concept in planners, Levenger has aGet started with our new Circa sampling kit, plus a free $40 gift card. for $40 dollars. You get a Circa kit, sampling of the pages and your $40 back in a gift card. So you really get to try it free. If you do not like the planner, I’m certain that you can find something among their highly unique products for yourself or for someone else.

I consider Levenger to be Cadillac in style, quality of paper and delivery. They are worth checking out for all your time management needs.

Are any of you Levenger users already? What do you like best about your product?

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Fan ~ tastic

February 25, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

It’s only February, but in some parts of the country spring has begun to announce its coming. There is evidence of new life with soft, pale colors appearing in nature.

The evidence of spring in my dwelling is far less romantic. I had to have the subfloors beneath my flooring repaired. While a necessary project, it added no aesthetic value to my surroundings,  the clean up sent me into “spring cleaning” mode. I know you can see the connection between spring and household repairs. :)

With the cleanup in the aftermath of the repairs, I began moving things around and changed my accent color in the living room.  What changes will you be making this spring?

Maybe you want to change your decor because you like change, or maybe you need your spirit lifted, or maybe changing things up is a necessity. Are you putting your house on the market to sell? Do you have a child that is becoming a teenager and needs a room update? Are you flipping a house to sell? Do you just want a new look? Or maybe, just maybe you are going to redecorate just because you want to. Bravo!

Here is a website to check out for some new takes on a standard that you probably already have in your home.: http://sweetpeagallery.com/

Sweet Pea Gallery sells painted ceiling fans, or they will paint the fan blades that you already own. And whether you buy their fans or have your own painted, you can choose from stock designs or customize the blades for your particular style. How ’bout that? Fans made to order. Fan ~ tastic!

Sweet Pea is not an affiliate, they just have some cute ideas.

Posted in Decorating Your Home | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

National Time Management Month

February 19, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

February has been named National Time Management Month.

How many times have you heard someone (or even yourself) say, “I wish I had more time in my day!” To which I usually ask, “Do you really want more of the same?”

The fact is that however you are managing the 24 hours that you have is exactly how you would manage more hours if you had them.

It isn’t really more time that we need, but a better use of the time we have. This concept is the reason that many are saying that the term “time management” is a misnomer. We can’t really manage time; what we can manage is how we use that time.

Maybe February would be better named National Self-Management Month. Well, we’ll leave that for the “National Awareness Committee” or whoever manages our awareness.

I’d love to walk and talk about time management, but where would we begin?

Should we talk about planners? O my, have you seen how many varieties there are? I use to want to develop a planner because I hadn’t really found one that covered the many areas of my life. But there are tons of options out there now, proving that one size does not fit all.

Answer to planner question: find one and use it. If it works for you, then use that one.  Planners are designed with lifestyles in mind ~ some are for mommies, some for business people, some are for creative people, some are for structured people, etc. The options are endless. Just get one and use it. And don’t be afraid to change planners as your life changes.

Should we talk about schedules? There are tons of ways to set schedules up and tons of life areas that need scheduling ~ schedules for the day, schedules for kids (school, sports, music lessons), schedules for home maintenance, schedules for bill paying, schedules for car maintenance, schedules for yearly doctors’ appointments, schedules for . . . you get the idea.

Answer to schedule question: schedule a scheduling meeting. :) Set aside some time to schedule all the schedules. This is not rocket science; it just has to be done. If you need help getting a schedule, take a look at ListPlanIt.

Should we talk about helping the family with their time management? It is always difficult to change others.

Answer to other’s time management: lead by example. Most of time management issues will involve others. They need to know what your schedule is and what you have scheduled for them. They’ll get on board.

Should we talk about . . . no. We should stop talking and get managing. My honest answer about time management is that you just need to have a planning meeting with yourself, figure out your plan for what you need to get done, put it in writing, post it for others if it involves them and live by it.

Remember I suggested that January be National Get Ready to Get Organized Month. Well, February is here and now you need to get a schedule for your day, your work goals, your fitness goals, your annual checkups, your financial goals, your home maintenance, your car maintenance, etc.

So schedule that planning meeting. :)

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National Clean Out Your Computer Day ~ Part III

February 12, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

We’ve been talking about cleaning out your computer, but we haven’t done in deep cleaning. And that’s on purpose. Most of us get hung up just taking care of the simple things.  Deeper cleaning may just be the job of an outside resource.

But, no one else can clean up your email; you don’t want to pay an IT person to “defrag” your computer, and only you can decide what documents to keep and what documents to delete.

Which brings us to today’s cleaning project ~ going through the file where you store things that you intended to read or listen to later. You know what I’m talking about! I have one of those folders also. Actually, I have a couple of those folders.

Someone offers a free ebook, webinar, report or review, etc. and you grab it off of their site while it’s available and file it away until later.

Well, later has arrived. Our final project for National Clean Out Your Computer Day (February 12 ~ today) is to go through that file or files and read it or delete it. If you don’t want to read it now after all of this time, then really, you must not think that it has real value.

What applies to any organizing project, applies here ~ if it has no value, then it is clutter. Get rid of it!

The real beauty with a computer item is it does not have to be dropped off later at Goodwill. You can “trash” it on the spot.

Let’s stop walkin’ and talkin’ so you can get goin’ on that To Read Later file.

Happy Cleaning Day!

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National Clean Out Your Computer Day ~ Part II

February 11, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

Today in honor of National Clean Out Your Computer Day (February 12), we are going to look at a couple of ways to clean out your computer hard drive. Computer geeks will already know these procedures; but for “normal” bloggers, these simple procedures can go a long way in the health of our hard drives.

Trust me (because I trust my IT guy) that disk cleanup and disk defragmentation are two very basic “cleaning” jobs that will lessen the stress (like all organizing) on your computer.

Disk cleanup: Click on “My Computer”

Right click on “c: drive “

Click on “Properties”

Right click on disk cleanup. Allow time for the computer to do the clean up.

Once it is finished another box will pop up.  It is safe to check all the boxes and click delete. If you are unsure, leave those things unchecked.

Disk defragmentation:

Click on “My Computer”

Right click on “c: drive”

Click on “Properties”

Click on the “Tools” tab

Click on the middle bar “Defragment now”

Click on “Defragment disk.” Allow the computer to run. The length of time necessary will depend on your computer. It may only be one minute, but it may take as much as a half hour. You may leave this process running while you  . . .  read another post on this website if you need ideas on organizing.

Now, wasn’t that easy? You are one step closer to Cleaning Out Your Computer. Tomorrow we’ll look at just one suggestion for a folder on your desktop.

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National Clean Out Your Computer Day

February 10, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

February’s organizing “holiday” is February 12 ~ National Clean Out Your Computer Day. And here on Pineapple Lane, I don’t want to waste this opportunity (actually, it serves as deadline) to get organized.

So, I’ll be posting for three days in a row on some ideas for . . . what else, but cleaning out your computer. I certainly won’t cover every aspect or every technique, but we can make a dent in things.

Today, let’s think about your email.

Handle email on the day it comes in. For email that you do not deal with immediately, sort them into folders: To Do, Waiting and To Read. Actually, you can name the folders whatever you like, but here is my breakdown. (Perhaps some of our readers would like to share how they breakdown their folders.)

Bear in mind, that if you can deal with it on the spot, do so.

Otherwise, the To Do Folder is email that must be dealt with SOON.

The Waiting Folder is for those emails that require you to wait on someone or something before you can complete the task.

The To Read Folder is for those emails that you want to read, but do not require any action.

Now that isn’t so hard, is it? Oops! what about that backlog of emails? I won’t sugar coat it, you will need to work your way through the mess. Unless, you just want to dedicate a whole Saturday to the project and just get it done (I hear groaning), then designate a determined amount of time each day. Spend 10-15 minutes per day on the backlog and push your way through until all emails are handled or in the appropriate folder.

I might add, you very well may have emails that are already past their usefulness. You actually have already handled or for some reason no longer need. If that is the case, you will have plenty to delete and less to shuffle. (Breathe a sigh of relief.)

One more thought about the folders, you will need to designate some time each day/week for taking care of what’s in the folders. Even if you think there is nothing to handle in the To Do or Waiting folders each day/week, having some time set aside will ensure that you get some of that reading done (instead of just having a reference library).

Honestly, you will feel less overwhelmed if you have cleaned out your email.

Anyone else want to share how they handle their email?

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The Economical Cooking Myth

January 31, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

I have mulled over an idea for some time now and have managed to talk myself out of it every time I entertain the notion. Silence no more! When the economy turned for the worse, there were ideas on how to save money.

One such idea was to eat at home more. Okay, I agree that eating at home might be less expensive than eating out. But, someone forgot to take two steps back. But just one more tweak would make eating at home even more cost effective ~ actually preparing and cooking the food ourselves.

Now, I don’t know at which I am more appalled: 1) that food manufacturers actually believe that consumers will pay the asking price for pre-prepared food; 2) that food manufacturers think that consumers do not know how to do basic cooking anymore; or 3) that consumers don’t realize that there is more money to be saved by doing the food preparation and cooking themselves.  The fact that consumers do pay the prices and that consumers are continuing to buy pre-prepared and pre-cooked food might lead manufacturers to the conclusion drawn in my first two points.

Why do consumers pay the prices and continue to buy pre- prepared and pre-cooked food? Because they feel that it saves them time or effort; its a matter of convenience.

In times when we have more money than time, we can afford to pay to have the work done for us. BUT, in tough economic times, there is a need to find time because we have less money/higher prices. Finding more time in the kitchen is for another post.

But for now ~ how much do we need to save? Just a little? Then by all means eat at home instead of a restaurant.

But if you need to cut back significantly, then the time has come to prepare the meal yourself. Please let me illustrate how we have forgotten how much can be saved by doing the cooking ourselves.

A few months back I had one of those moments that necessitated my putting my hand over my mouth. A family was in the grocery store discussing what to have for supper. (Nevermind that the grocery store is not the place for that discussion.) She asked about mashed potatoes, and he agreed to them. She promptly reached into the refrigerated case and picked up a two-three serving package of pre-prepared mashed potatoes for about $2.25.  My mouth dropped open and out jumped, “I can’t believe that she just paid that much for potatoes when you can buy a whole bag of them and make oodles of servings of mashed potatoes for $3.99.” (Now you see why I had to put my hand over my mouth.) I slowly got over that.

But all the while, I’m thinking, “How many people are spending money unnecessarily for pre-prepared food instead of cooking it themselves?” Do they not know how to cook? Do they not have the time to cook? Do they not want to take the time? Maybe they don’t have economical recipes. (Light bulb!) (Talk self out of the idea.)

Then just the other day I was in the grocery store (again) and found myself in one of those “hand over the mouth” moments. I had approached what I thought was boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $6.97. What to my wondering eyes did appear but one simple bag of pre-cooked, pre-cut up chicken. Two and half cups of cubed chicken for $6.97!! Literally, I was walking through the store with my fingers holding my lips together. What has happened that we cannot cook chicken? What has happened that we cannot cube chicken? (Light bulb!) (Don’t talk self out of the idea this time.)

Our economy being what it is and food prices rising with leaps and bounds, we may need to return to cooking (not just microwaving) food. Food budgets are continuing to grow; food prices are continuing to climb. So the more we can save on preparing and cooking of food, the more money we have for other things or the more food that can be purchased. Right?

We may find ourselves spending time instead of money. So back to the light bulb ~ I have some low-cost recipes to share with you.

You and I are the “consumer advocates” for our homes. It is time that we took measures to control the food budget instead of being puppets to the food industry.

Please tell me how you have taken control of your food budget. There are lots of us who are ready to take action.

Posted in Economical recipes, Foods | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Get Organized In A Year

January 28, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

Anyone else noticed how much information is available to help us get organized? Countless books and magazines everywhere you look. (That is except in the public library in the city in which I live, but that is another blog.) But there are countless books available at any bookstore and magazines dedicated solely to the subject.

If you notice, every month on the newsstand, you can find one, if not more, magazines with an article about organizing something, and in January, it seems that entire magazines are devoted to the topic. A person could experience “information overload.”

Well, no surprise that January is National Get Organized month. Admittedly, this is a great month for the focus; after all, we are cleaning up from Christmas, rearranging the furniture, etc after the Christmas tree is down, making New Year’s resolutions, setting goals, establishing the yearly budget, clearing out files to do tax returns and the list goes on.

But maybe we should call it National Get Ready to Get Organized month. With all the above things to do, it seems that January should be a planning month with the intent to initiate the plans in February ~ when we get past all that January requires.

So-o-o-o now that you are disappointed in yourself for fudging on those New Year’s resolutions, laboring over a new budget, and frustrated that you cannot find all your tax information, let’s regroup.

1) Stop fretting that you didn’t get organized this month. You didn’t get into your mess in one month; you won’t get out of it in one month.

2) Set goals or revive those resolutions that you made. Think of January as your planning month. You may, or may not, be surprised to learn that every month during the year has a day,  week or an entire month designated for awareness of organizing some area of our lives. For example, besides January being National Get Organized Month, it is also Clean Out Your Closet Month. February has Clean Out Your Computer Day, and the list goes on. If you bite your organizing off one area each month, you can avoid overwhelm and accomplish a great deal.

3) Join me at the beginning of each month to “walk and talk” about that month’s organizing project and some ideas on what you can work on to get organized in a  year.

4) Meanwhile, work on your mindset. No amount of organizing information, organizing system, consulting or coaching will help you get and stay organized until you determine in your own mind that being less stressed, operating more efficiently and effectively, finding energy you thought you didn’t have and redeeming time for the people who are important to you is this year’s top priority. What is it you really want? Is this another year to just talk about taking charge of your life? Or is this the year to get organized?

You may think that you won’t stick with this for a whole year, but you can if you bite this off one month at a time.

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Ten Tips for the Big Clean-Up

December 30, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

The Christmas season is almost behind us. The clean-up is ahead of us.

If you found decorating frustrating and the strings of light tangled, then this year is the year to  put it all away organized.

Here are a few suggestions:

1 ~ Use clear totes for storing or color code your totes. Use totes with red lids for the Christmas decorations. Use totes with other color lids for other times of the year. When you send your family members to retrieve the decorations next year, you can simply tell them to get the totes with the red lids. How easy is that? Any family member can do that.

2 ~ You could store decorations that are used together in the same tote. For example, I usually have two trees, one in the family room and one in the living room. One tree is decorated in red and one in blue. I store the items for each tree in their own tote. Hence, I don’t store all the lights in one tote, all the ornaments in one, etc.  This separation could be done by rooms if you tend to use the same decorations in particular rooms each year.

3 ~ If you use boxes for storing, be sure to label the boxes. By labeling, I don’t mean putting the word “Christmas” on the outside. List the content of the boxes on the label. FYI ~ over time cardboard boxes will retain moisture, so beware.

4 ~ Lights CAN be stored without tangling. Wrap them around wrapping paper tubes, cardboard inserts from shirts, mutilated gift boxes that will otherwise be thrown out.

5 ~ Bows are by far the most difficult thing to keep looking great when stored. Two thoughts: a) hang the bows from clothes hangers and cover with a dry cleaning bag; b) use only wired ribbon. Yes, wired ribbon is more expensive, but because it can be reshaped year after year, it will look beautiful longer.

6 ~ Can  you store unused or slightly used candles until next year? Depends ~ will they be stored in a cool place? If you store them in the attic where it is hot in the summer, then the answer is no, you cannot store the candles. Remember, that no matter what the temperature, red candles can transfer their color to whatever they touch. Wrap your candles in leftover tissue paper.

7 ~ Throw away NOW, not next year, decorations that have outlived their usefulness. If the lights didn’t work this year, they won’t work next year. No. if you didn’t buy replacement bulbs this year, you will not buy replacement bulbs next year.

8 ~ If you are purchasing new decorations, purchase now so they can be stored in the appropriate bins.

9 ~ Use this barren state of your home as an opportunity to clean. Some corners haven’t seen a broom or dust cloth since you decorated in November. When I lived in the Mid-West, I found a need to keep clean whatever I could whenever I could. Mid-Westerners know that during the snowy season, it is not uncommon to feel like you have mud and slush at every door and on every floor. So clean, dust, sweep and mop those empty areas before you move the furniture back in its place.

10 ~ Make notes. Purchase a small journal, designate a section of your planner or whatever works for you to make notes on all the Christmas festivities.

For parties:  Write down the menu, how many attended, how much food you made, what you had too much of and what you needed more of, what decorations you used, what you did that was worth repeating, what you did that was a flop.

For gift giving: Note what gifts were “just right,” what gifts you didn’t guess right for someone else, any ideas your hear for next year.

For decorating: Note what didn’t work (it kept falling down, etc.), what you should have put away because of the grandchildren, what keepsake you should remember to pass on because your daughter-in-law absolutely loves it.

Memos: Write down anything that you want to remember no matter in what category it falls. You may need to remember whose house the family get together was at this year and who will have it next year, who has whose name (if you drew names) ~ someone has to have a record because names will be forgotten or lost before next Christmas. Maybe you want to have memories written down for those who cherish family histories.

Wouldn’t it be great to be organized next year for Christmas? That starts this year. Hopefully these ten tips will give you some ideas and help you along the way.

Do you have any ideas to share with others as we walk and talk?

Posted in Decorating Your Home, Organizing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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