Things I Learned From My Friend Rosemary

I had a coworker that I worked with for over 10years she was an amazing person to be with.

The first time I saw her she was dropping off her application at our office and she had a huge smile on her face. She was pretty and stylish and friendly. She smiled at everyone in the office not just the people she was trying to get an interview with. She was applying to be our office manager and when she got the job we were all very excited instead of being nervous about what kind of person she would be to work with.

As it turned out she was the best thing that ever happened to our office. She came in with huge smiles and an attitude that made everyone in the office feel lighthearted and glad to be there. Our boss had just fired an office manager that was causing conflict among the staff and bringing the moral down not to mention nearly putting the office in bankruptcy as well.

Rosemary was like magic. Not only did she make everyone feel better about coming to work she also knew the job she was doing very well and helped turn the business around quickly to producing and collecting more revenue. I went on to work with her for 5 years in this office and then later worked with her again another 5 yearsiwth another company. I think that she is responsible in many ways for making me the person I am today.

The things I learned from Rosemary:
· She could take any ordinary day or typical situation and make it into a party. We once had a patient bring a huge bag of tomatoes for our staff. Instead of just dividing up the tomatoes to give to everybody Rosemary saw the opportunity for a party. She organized a Salsa making party assigning each of us to bring an ingredient the next day to work. Our boss promised to supply a bottomless bag of tortilla chips and sodas. None of us had ever made salsa before so it was a new and exciting thing for us. The next day during the mid morning hour she went back to the break room and began putting our salsa together. We all went back to take peaks at the process. When it was finally done and the tasting began. The salsa was good but it was the atmosphere that was incredible. She had taken a bag of tomatoes and made us laugh with each other, smile at each other, and enjoy being at work with each other.

· She was also the queen of the Car Picnic. In our next job we traveled all over Northern California together by car. Some of the best times we shared in that car were our Car Picnics. No matter where we were she would always find a deli or a grocery store where we would go in and purchase the items for our picnic. I remember driving over the bridge near Martinez one sunny afternoon with her stuffing our faces with French bread and salami sandwiches. Oh and don’t forget the pepper jack cheese!
· She was the best shopper I ever met. She new how to find a bargain whether it was at Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, or the thrift store. She was someone who shopped everywhere. She would scour the sale racks and didn’t even think twice about wearing a Wal-Mart shirt with a Nordstrom Jacket. If it looked great then she would go for it. She loved food! And when we went to Hawaii together she managed to find the place that served the best breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and bacon) for only $2.00.

· Probably the most important thing I learned from Rosemary was how to make other people feel that they are truly important. Rosemary would strive to make every patient that came into our office feel as though they were her very favorite patient. And, I believe they were at that precise time and moment. She would later teach me how to make each client’s office that I walked into feel as though they were my favorite client and my most important stop of the day. Before we got out of the car we checked our teeth and reapplied our lipstick so as to appear fresh and ready for them. Then we came in and greeted each person in the office with a warm hello, from the Dentist to the person emptying the trash. Rosemary was a natural at this but as I watched her I learned to do this too. It really isn’t difficult, it is just realizing that everyone has importance and significance. Later after I had quit my job to stay at home and be a mom I ran into one of the hygienist from a former client’s office. I asked her how my replacement was doing she said she didn’t know because she never talked to her. I thought how sad that my replacement lacked the understanding of the most important part of her job, to make everyone feel as though they are important to you.

Rosemary’s example has influenced my own Christian life. I have realized the importance of a warm hello and smile as well as the impact it can have on someone else. It is the very least as a Christian I can offer, and yet it is so powerful and in some ways even life changing.

End of Summer

Well summer is almost over at our house. Stuart has already started school and life seems to be more focused on the fall and what is in store, even though most days it is still pretty hot outside.

It seems like the summer just flew by and all of plans I had for the summer never got accomplished. I was thinking about this and decided maybe I needed to at least make a list of what I did do.

1. My husband Steve was in an accident on his motor scooter on the way to work one day towards the beginning of summer. He ended up with several broken ribs and a broken scapula. Although his injuries were pretty significant and kept him in the hospital for a couple of days they healed fast and didn't keep him in bed long. He spent six weeks off of work. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is what put a my summer into a tail spin. We loved having him home and spent plenty of time together as a family.

2. We did take one trip in our trailer this summer. We spent 4 days in an RV park up by Columbia California with my inlaws. This was during the heat wave in July and we primarily took this vacation because our air conditioner went out at home and we figured this way we could use the air in the trailer to stay cool. We swam, and looked in the shops at Murphy's and Sonora. The kids really enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa so close.

3. We had our air conditioner and heater replaced with what they promise to be a much more efficient unit that will save us money. We certainly do hope to save money but we are extremely happy to have air conditioning again.

4. I have organized several key areas in my house a little better, I did 2 of my kitchen drawers, the tupperware cabinet, and my pantry. I also cleaned out a drawer in the front bathroom and my sock drawer. And finally my closet. I really do enjoy opening up my cabinets and drawers and seeing them nice and neat. Sometimes I open them up just to look and admire.

5. I spent a weekend in San Francisco with just my Mom. We went away together to celebrate our milestone birthdays. I turned 40 in May and she turned 60 in June. We stayed in the Union Square area and went to see a cute little play called "The 25th Annual Sputnick County Spelling Bee". It was very entertaining. We also shopped and discovered "The Container Store"! What an amazing place my Mom and I could have spent all weekend in there. This is where my organizing frenzy started. There are so many ideas you get from just looking.

6. Stuart and Leah and Steve all had birthdays this summer. Birthdays are always nice for getting together with friends and family.

As I look over the list I am amazed at how much I did do this summer. It was a very nice summer even though it was not necessarily the summer I had been planning of.

Take the time to make your own list and see what you have accomplished and what memories you made. It brings a little more perspective to the end of summer.

Lessons of Home Organization

I am always reading and looking for home organizing tips. As the mother of two under the age of four I feel at times that my home needs some extra help. However, home organization takes on an entirely different slant when applying to the mother of a toddler. It’s more about keeping important items out of the reach of little hands and making sure that little ones stay safe. You could pretty much divide the house into two levels, waist up and waist down. Everything waist down must be childproof. Waist up is then left for decorating and essential items placed strategically higher than little hands can reach or climb up to.

This realization hit home once my one year old finally reached that stage where she was able to reach my bathroom drawer and pull things out. After a couple of weeks living with the frustration of finding my toothbrush in the hallway or having to search the toy box for my floss I finally decided the situation was serious and I needed to take some action.

First I pulled all of my essentials out of my drawer. Then I found one of those picnic baskets that are designed to put on the picnic table and hold your silverware, plates, and napkins. I found the different size compartments perfect for holding my toothbrush, toothpaste and hair supplies. It now sits on the bathroom counter out of reach from my daughter (at least for now.)

After organizing my essentials I looked in the drawer and realized that everything else in there was unnecessary. So, I began to toss! I was feeling really great about getting rid of so much stuff. Once my tossing frenzy was over I found myself with a much cleaner drawer that held only a few items in it. What a great accomplishment I thought.

Well, it wasn’t more than a few days later when my daughter found those few remaining items and started pulling them out. After picking these things up from various rooms in the house I decided it was time to once again evaluate my drawer.
In the end I left nothing in the drawer. I moved some things and threw out the rest. With all of the information and media marketing on home organization and storage solutions I found out that living with a toddler is truly the best teacher on how to simplify. I definitely hope to use my drawer again someday, but for now I find great peace in knowing where my toothbrush has been.

My Unscientific Study

At the start of this year I went on quest! I was bound and determined to find the best burning jar candle for my kitchen counter. I wanted something that smelled good, looked beautiful, burned well, and cost as little as possible.

I started this study rather casually when I began to think about adding some simple pleasures to my life. During the holiday's I enjoyed lighting candles in and around my house, and while I realize that this is not something I can do everyday very easily with preschoolers ( especially one that will climb to great heights to get what she wants) I did realize I wanted to get back to burning a candle on my kitchen counter. In the past I had done this and really enjoyed seeing this as I went about my daily tasks. It seemed to be a bright spot in my day and somehow made my kitchen just seem cleaner, even with a sink full of dirty dishes.

So, one day as I was browsing the isle at Wal-mart I found this great jar candle in a nice homey sent that cost about $4.99! Well that was it I brought the candle home and burned it and burned it and burned it while enjoying it all the while. It turned out to be a great candle in my opinion. It burned well and left very little wax along the edges of the jar. I was very pleased with it and thought what a great value for $4.99.

Well my candle finally needed to be replaced but I happened to be at Target instead of Wal-mart, so this time my candle came from Target. It was a prettier jar, kind of frosted, but I wasn't really crazy about any of the scents. I did however find one and brought the candle home. Oh, this candle cost $7.99 the cheapest one that Target offered.
I burned and burned and burned this candle. It however, did not burn as well as the Wal-mart candle and for it being more expensive I felt really jilted. This candle left lots of left over wax and the scent wasn't that good.

Next up I visited K-mart. I love Martha Stewart and when I saw her jar candle at K-mart I got goose bumps. Right away I loved the jar it was kind of frilly looking and just girly. The scent was very nice and I had high hopes for this candle. It cost the same as the Target candle but I already liked it much better. It burned about the same as the Wal-mart candle and I really enjoyed seeing it as walked through my kitchen. Martha Stewart had won me over.

Then, I received a late Christmas Gift from someone and as I pulled it out of the box I knew I had struck gold! I had been given the most coveted of all jar candles. Yes, it was a "Yankee Candle" in a glorious scent. Everything about these candles is wonderful except, the price. The large jar candle is a mere $19.99. Now I don't know what the small jar candle cost which is the size that I had been given but let's just assume it is half of the large jar price and say $9.99. So it really only cost a little more than the Martha candle. But does it burn better? Does it really smell better? Does it look any prettier? Yes, yes, and yes! It burns so well there is no left over wax along the sides of this candle and the flame on it is long and tall and flickering, and the scent, very pleasing.

And that's it. "Martha Stewart Everyday" is a great candle for everyday! Wal-mart is a very good convenient to get candle since I am there almost every other day, plus it is priced very low so picking it up doesn't add any extra guilt to what I already have in the cart. Target is not worth even looking at, and the Yankee Candle is the mother of all candles and is a very affordable treat now and then.

I hope you enjoyed my unscientific study and found it useful to your own candle purchase.

Too Much To Do

Well I spent some time talking to God today. I was just telling Him how much I seem to have on my plate. There's the newsletter to create, the web page to keep updated, the errands to run, the laundry to do, the house to clean, again, the Christmas decorations to put away (which I thought I got done today but tonight found something else I forgot to put away). There are just so many things! Oh, and lets not forget the kids and everything that they need for me to do for them. I told Him I just don't understand how I am supposed to get it all done. How do other people do it? It wasn't so much that I was complaining I was just sincerely asking.

And you know, I got everything I needed to get done today done. Amazing, I still don't know how I did it. Well except for that one last Christmas decoration.