Menu plan Monday 16 June 2008

Hi everybody

I've been baking again. Last Friday I made some spicy pumpkin muffins and today I baked some of Victoria's apricot crumble (pictured above) - yummmy!

Despite all of this, I am pleased to announce that I've lost a further 0.4kg, bringing my total weight loss to 0.9kg in two weeks. Yay! I seem to be back in the saddle with gym which is great :)

Did you have a good week last week?

Last week, I went back to gym after a whole month and it was great - I only go to dance classes and both were FANTASTIC! The best thing is the scale agrees because I've lost 0.5 kg.

Home/ office organising challenge

You are all invited to join me while you organise your home or your office for the next 10 weeks. Read more here.

:(
I finally got hold of Sandra on Monday night last week. We had a plan to get together on Thursday but it unfortunately didn't work out as her niece had to go to the hospital. On the bright side, at least we got to speak!

This week's menu
Monday
Stirfried chicken, veggies and noodles

Tuesday
Dion's night - I think we're having omelettes

Wednesday
Chilli con carne and rice

Thursday
Pasta with alfredo sauce

Friday
Burgers and low-fat chips

In South Africa, tomorrow is Youth Day. I don't talk much about politics because this is not a political blog but it's worth reading that link to see a bit of the background :)

Anyway, it's a public holiday here which means we only have a 4-day week and I plan to do lots of reading, cook a bit but nothing else that's too taxing. I plan to write my weekly ezine now (which I usually do on a Monday) so that I don't mess up a free day with WORK :-)

What does your week look like?

Declutter by taking pictures

I bought this bottle of water for 1 Ringgit at a tiny shop on a monorail station in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in Oct 2006.

Just looking at that bottle brings back all sorts of memories - how hot and humid it was that day, what I was wearing (tiny shorts and a sleeveless top), how tired I was of walking at that point, how cool the water was and how I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to put up my feet and have a nice cup of tea.

This bottle travelled all the way back to South Africa with me and has been my gym companion once a week since then, more or less. In case you're worrying about my cleanliness, yes, I did wash it out :)

I finally decided to throw it out the other day but first I took a picture so I could remember the story behind it :-)

And I said all that to say this.

If you're hanging onto STUFF because you feel sentimental about them, take a picture (yes, seriously), blog it or just write something in your journal and let it go. Like I did here with my shoes.

What do you need to let go of? It can be something small, something big, anything.

The Home/ Office Organising Challenge

Kilbrittain, Ireland

Hi everybody

I don't even live in the Northern Hemisphere but I've been getting SO EXCITED about summer, just from reading the blogs. As you know, I'm a winter gal (just look at those gorgeous skies in the picture above) so am in my element right now with our cold weather in Johannesburg. If I could only have an insulated house like they do in the UK, I'd be as happy as a clam (anyone know if clams are actually happy?)!

So I decided in honour of your summer and our winter, we should do something fun together.

TA DA DA DUM...

Announcing ... THE HOME/ OFFICE ORGANISING CHALLENGE

Here's how it's going to work:

STEP 1

Decide what you want to tackle for the next 10 weeks. It doesn't have to take you 10 weeks but you have 10 weeks to get it all done so there's no pressure. See? Still lots of time to laze at the pool, reading, or in my case to laze under my blanket with hot chocolate ;)

I suggest you choose a specific room (s) in your HOME or your OFFICE. There's enough in most offices to keep you busy for 10 weeks!

STEP 2

Set a deadline. Depending on the size of the project, choose your date of completion.

STEP 3

Decide on a reward for completing your project. Will you buy some pillows for your home? Do you want a new desk for the office?

STEP 4

Map out your "how to" steps. I suggest that you take a big piece of paper for each room and break your BIG project down into MINI projects. E.g. in the bedroom, there might be hanging clothes, shelves, bedside table, etc.

If you're not sure about the "how to", please get the Organise your Home system (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=21) or 7 Easy Steps to Organise your Office (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=17).

STEP 5

Make yourself accountable to someone. Tell your family, a friend, your coach, or better still, post it on your blog and make yourself accountable to the internet!

With any project, it's always more fun when you do it together with other people so here's the thing - I'm hosting TWO Question & Answer calls over the course of the ORGANISING CHALLENGE. These calls are f-r-e-e for anyone who owns ORGANISE YOUR HOME or 7 EASY STEPS (and all clients).

Call 1 Thursday 26 June 8PM South Africa time/ 2PM Eastern Standard Time
Call 2 Thursday 24 July 8PM South Africa time/ 2PM Eastern Standard Time

During this time, you get 1:1 coaching and can ask me anything that you're battling with, tips and ideas about your organising project, etc, etc. Or you can just come listen in and get ideas from the others. Don't worry if you can't make the times - you can email your questions and I'll answer them on the call. Both calls will be recorded and the links will be put up on the password-protected site for all who have registered.

SO ARE YOU UP FOR THE ORGANISING CHALLENGE?

1. Leave a comment here if you're up for it.
2. Email me if you're a previous purchaser of the HOME (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=21) or OFFICE (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=17) product.
3. When you buy the product, in the comments section, please put "organising challenge" and I'll add you to the list for all the call-in information.

This is only going to take about 60 minutes every week.

Won't it be WONDERFUL to have a FUNCTIONAL and ORGANISED space at the end of August?

P.S. If anyone's a Photoshop whiz and can help out, please contact me - I need a button for this challenge to put on the blog ;)

P.P.S. If you want to see some travel pics, check out the travel blog at http://francoisfamily.blogspot.com/

menu plan monday - 9 June 2008

Hi everybody

Did you have a good week last week?

My goal for June is to get rid of the extra 2kg I gained while on holiday in the UK and Ireland. I seem to have a built-in radar for baked goodies no matter where in the world I go and this trip, it was either Tesco's yum-yums (delicious!), scones with jam or THE most delicious doughnuts ever.

The friend we stayed with in Dublin, Craig, is a psychotherapist so we'd meet him at the hospital every day after work and before leaving, we'd pop into the canteen for tea and a chocolate-filled doughnut. My word - light, non-greasy with just a sprinkling of castor sugar - I'm salivating now just thinking of it! Absolutely delicious ;)

Anyway, so you can see how easy it was to gain weight.

Last week, I went back to gym after a whole month and it was great - I only go to dance classes and both were FANTASTIC! The best thing is the scale agrees because I've lost 0.5 kg.

This week, my goal is THREE dance classes :)

summer/ winter organising project

I'm going to be announcing a special project this week so keep reading. This is a bright idea that I had while in the shower :)

:(
I've phoned Sandra four times and have still not spoken to her. Three times the phone just rang and rang and the fourth time I left a message. So will try again this week - I can't bear the thought that she's so close and we can't seem to get hold of one another!

This week's menu
Monday
Baked potatoes with bolognaise sauce

Tuesday
Dion's night - last week we had takeaways which I'm not keen on but oh well...

Wednesday
Pizzas/ garlic rolls/ tomato soup

Thursday
Mashed potatoes, grilled fish in a tomato sauce

Friday
Pasta with spicy kidney bean sauce

What does your week look like?

The change of seasons is a good time to declutter

Remember this?

When I posted about how long we should keep clothes we plan to fit into, Carmen commented and shared what I thought was a fabulous idea - double decluttering!

She said that the first declutter is always harder for her so she then goes back over the same area a week or two later to see if she's changed her mind about anything else.

Absolutely brilliant idea!

So just before we went to the UK I went back into that wardrobe of mine and decluttered again. And it really was easier to make decisions the second time around.

Look at all these additional clothes I managed to get rid of the second time around!

They don't look like very much there but I filled two shopping bags to bursting.

This is the wardrobe before. The door on the left pretty much stays closed all the time with a small laundry basket in front of it, so I keep all the current season's clothes on the right. You can see some short-sleeved suits on the right and the pants hanging below are also summer clothes.

(If I could do the writing on the photos with arrows and such like you see on other blogs, I'd show you but for now, just pretend there's a line down the middle)


And this is the wardrobe after. I've now moved my winter pants and jackets to the top right and my long-sleeved shirts to the bottom. My boots are also easy to reach and the whole wardrobe is just a lot prettier. (when I've just organised a space, I like to leave it open for a few hours to just gaze at the loveliness, don't you?!)


And there you go - a beautifully organised wardrobe/ closet.

Have you heard of double decluttering? What do you think of the idea?

Want to read about London?

Hi all

I've started updating our travel blog.

You can read more here and please do chime in and let me know what you think :)

If you want to stay updated until I've done, then click the subscribe button at the top of the sidebar on the TRAVEL blog...

Enjoy the pictures :)

Helping victims of xenophobia in South Africa & my menu plan for the week

Hi everyone

It's a beautiful winter's day in Joburg - ice-cold but sunny!

I can't help thinking about the victims of the xenophobic violence in South Africa - homeless or staying in tents with almost no clothes or blankets. My heart just bleeds for them.

I have a gardener working for me who is one of those victims - last Monday when he was there I gave him some towels and Dion gave some clothes. I now have had some more time to think and I've put some more stuff together for him, including some toiletries, jackets, etc.

For South Africans who read this blog
This is a GREAT time to declutter.

I always find that when there's someone in need, it's a lot easier to get rid of things. Remember to ask yourself, "who can use this today?" instead of saying "I might need this someday".

**This morning on Radio 702, they were asking the public in particular for clothes and blankets. Of course food and other goods are also very welcome.

Thanks for reading...


In other blog news
I plan to phone Sandra later to make some plans to get together. We'll be sure to take pictures for the blogs ;) I can't wait!

This week's menu
Monday
Chicken stirfry with veggies and noodles

Tuesday
Dion's night - I don't care what I eat as long as I don't have to think about it or prepare it :)

Wednesday
Leftovers from freezer

Thursday
Healthy spaghetti bolognaise

Friday
Girls Night In - we're having a men's thing at church so my friend and I are sending the men and we're staying in for a nice chat :)

What does your week look like?

Kind people gave me these awards

From Anne Alagna

How to organise (6) - maintaining your organised space

The most important part of the whole organising process is maintenance. And this is often the place where things get out of control.

When I first meet with an organising client, I ask them, “what’s working and not working for you?”

Often, people tell me, “I can get it organised but two days later, it’s all a mess again”. This tells me they don’t have a maintenance system.

I can have a beautifully organised bedroom but if I leave clothes, empty mugs and glasses, books, etc. to pile up everyday, after a few days there’s going to be a royal mess.

Making a daily habit of some very simple steps like throwing clothes in the laundry bins, taking empty dishes to the kitchen, returning items like books to their homes will maintain your organised room.

My 3-step solution:
1. Do a quick 5-minute check of your trouble areas every day. Train your family to do the same.
2. Build this time into a current routine that already works for you. If you make an evening cup of coffee/ tea like I do, when you turn on the kettle, use the time while you wait for it to boil to do your maintenance check. This is key!
3. Make time on a weekly basis to check through your house. This is the time to catch up just in case a couple of days didn’t go according to plan.

Do you have a maintenance plan? Please share in the comments.

I'm back!

Hi everyone

I arrived back from holiday to an absolutely freezing Johannesburg this morning. When the pilot announced the ground temperature of 6 degrees Celsius (at 6am), I said to the lady next to me, "did he just say 6????" :)

Of course I do love the cold but I had forgotten that South African houses are not made for cold weather. So after catching up on sleep, Dion and I both had hot showers and I am now in my pajamas :) Dion is watching TV and I am about to do some internet banking (quite honestly, I'm a little bit surprised every time a transaction goes through because I haven't transferred money into that card for weeks!

I've already done 3 loads of laundry (one while unpacking, one while sleeping, and another one is going right now), my work bag and more importantly, my lunch bag is packed! I have to get back to gym this week because I've definitely put on weight...

In a nutshell, we had a really good time connecting with old and new friends, I finally met Suzanne in Stirling, Scotland and Red Wine Gums in Cork, Ireland. We went to church with RWG - isn't the power of the internet amazing?!

Of course, the UK and Ireland are SOOOOOOOOO expensive - I could hardly believe it. If any of you are thinking of visiting SA, do it! You will have such a wonderful holiday at really, really good prices!!!

And on this week's menu...

Monday
Curry and rice with pumpkin (all in the freezer)

Tuesday
Baked potatoes with kidney bean and tomato sauce (also in freezer), topped with cheese

Wednesday
Stirfried chicken and veg in a satay sauce

Thursday
Pizzas (also in freezer :))

Friday
Eating out

More importantly, how have you guys been doing?

And now, I'm going to phone my UK/ Ireland friends to tell them we've arrived safely. We had a really horrible eventful day travelling yesterday but I'll tell you all about that on our travel blog... and of course, the organised Suzanne has already put her photos on Facebook...