Neat November

Welcome to the GROOM YOUR ROOM November top 5 list of to-dos’ if you choose.

“In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets.” ― Cynthia Rylant, In November

Here are some insights into what November has in store……Who thinks of these things anyway?

November 3: Housewife’s Day is the day set aside to bring attention to the importance of stay at home wives and moms. Way back when the “family” could be supported by one main income and equal rights for women was non-existent, this day was set aside to honor all the hard work women did to help create a healthy home. Today, I think it should honor all women and men who spend a good amount of time taking special care of their family environments. To define “family” has come a long way but the dwelling, no matter the size, shape, inhabitants, always needs care and attention. Creating just the right atmosphere through scents, designs, cleanliness, accessories, comfort helps to define your special space and values.

November 5: Daylight Savings Time ends, also called standard time at this time of year. I hate this part. While going back in time sounds fun and I know it is for the safety of the children at the bus stops, but the darkness is just too much to deal with sometimes. It has been a tradition in our country since 1966 to establish a system of uniform DST throughout the United States.

November 9: Chaos Never Dies Day. Actually, “this too shall pass” is a favorite antidote to the chaos. Although chaos changes into many forms and feels like we are always dealing with chaos like deadlines, schedules, disruptions, disorganization, and hectic moments, those things have a way of passing from one form to another and sometimes we may feel like some chaos is more manageable than other kinds of chaos. No matter what your definition of chaos is on a regular basis, take time today to call a time out for yourself and/or your whole family and get calm, get centered, get quiet, get stress free. Appreciate how busy you all are and then take time together to appreciate how you can come together and just take a deep breath to prepare for what’s to come. If your chaos is caused by lack of organization around your home, GROOM YOUR ROOM helps you go from chaos to calm in 3 short hours or less, depending on your need. Give us a call and let our helping hands help you.

November 15: Take your pick today: Celebrate America Recycles Day or Clean your Refrigerator Day. The choice is yours but get in the spirit. If you choose to concentrate on recycling, it is important to know that each person in America can produce as much as, if not more than, 4 lbs. of waste every single day. Make a deal with yourself and your family to concentrate on lowering that number for the sake of your home environment and for the health of our great country. If you choose to celebrate Clean your Refrigerator Day well then, you know what you must do. Empty that sucker completely, take out all the shelves and drawers, scrub from top to bottom inside and out. Clean under the refrigerator and behind the refrigerator to help the fan work efficiently. Have some fun with it: take before and after pictures, guess at the oldest item in there and have a contest to see who wins the guess, did you find enough good items to use to make a new meal tonight? Keep a sticker inside to let you know the last time the refrigerator was cleaned so that you can keep that thing running for a long time. Have a few extra minutes? Check out our latest blog post about decluttering and organizing your refrigerator.

Well, after all that celebrating let’s get to the nitty gritty of what really needs to get done.

Item 1: Menu planning for Thanksgiving. Whether you are hosting or visiting empty hands make for a sparse menu. Do you have a specialty? Are you a wiz at desserts, appetizers or decorations? You can never have enough of any of those things. Now would be a great time to make up a preliminary menu, make a list of missing ingredients and tools and think about that all-important table decoration. What makes this Thanksgiving so special? Since I only have one oven to use, I always work backwards starting with desserts first. If you know your menu now, then getting a head start on the baking is a great help. Need a little menu picker upper? Click here for some great ideas.

Item 2: Getting your car ready for the winter weather. Ugh. I know it must be done but what a chore this is. Car care is hard to work into a busy schedule. Believe it or not there is a car care council and they say that twice per year, April and October, are the top car care months. I’m so behind. Well, I’m not letting anymore time get away from me. Click here to get expert tips and schedules for the best car care.

Item 3: Are you entertaining guests this Thanksgiving? The earlier in the month the better to get the guest room or guest area ready. Decorate sparingly but on the day of arrival it might be nice to have fresh flowers sitting in a small vase in autumn colors. Create special areas by not overcrowding the bed or corners of the room. If you find that you need to de-clutter a few dresser drawers for your guests to use during their stay, then now is a great time to buy or use decorative boxes to store what comes from those drawers or de-clutter with a donation purpose in mind. Martha Stewart has some great ideas for preparing for guests. Check it out here.

Item 4: De-clutter your inbox. We have done this project earlier in the year but in an effort to make receiving and reading emails more efficient and less time consuming now that the holiday season is upon us, get rid of what doesn’t serve you anymore by unsubscribing to as much as you can, putting emails in their properly labeled folders and creating your holiday card mailing list as you go. Come December 1st you will be thrilled to have that list organized and ready to go. Once you get the hang of all that unsubscribing and deleting unwanted emails, make a pact with yourself to do this every week or month. No more overwhelm in the email department. Click here for some helpful tips.

Item 5: Oh boy, the dreaded raking of the leaves. I admit that this to-do item I leave (no pun intended) to mother nature. There are always a few days this month where mother nature blows her winds very hard to help prepare the trees for shedding of its final leaves and get ready for sustained cold air. During those very windy days, although leaves are still falling, they are also blowing the leaves that have fallen out of my yard and into another yard. Yay! We are surrounded by trees so there is an abundance of leaves that fall all around my yard. I hate raking. However, if you don’t want to hire this to-do out to some needy teenager trying to save for a Christmas gift for his girlfriend then do as I do or check this out for some how-to tips on proper raking.

“In November, people are good to each other. They carry pies to each other's homes and talk by crackling woodstoves, sipping mellow cider. They travel very far on a special November day just to share a meal with one another and to give thanks for their many blessings - for the food on their tables and the babies in their arms.” ― Cynthia Rylant, In November

Call to Action

What are your favorite foods for Thanksgiving?

What are you most thankful for this year?

What decluttering/organizing task is your least favorite to do at this time of year?