Home & Family
Home organization does NOT come naturally to me. I spent most of my life trying to avoid household chores, with excuses like...I'm working full time...why should I have to do it...it will only get messed up again. My mom (who lives with me) generally took care of what she called "the piddly work" - dishes, laundry & some cooking, and hubby also chipped in with the cooking and general clean up. I would ignore it until it became unbearable, then do a marathon clean-up - that took all day or several days, then be exhausted and angry when it got messy again. Or just ignore it until someone else did it. The kids weren't much help. Sound familiar? I am a SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive). More precisely, a payroll SHE who works outside the home - 2 jobs even. I had a houseful of grown children, my mom was unable to help as much due to increasing health problems, and hubby was getting resentful because I was leaving it up to him. I decided to to tackle the problem of home organization and management. I found out that I was not alone, and that there were a lot of resources & help - and that it was something I could learn. I also found the Home Organization forums, which have been a wonderful source of support. The kids are now out on their own now, and I'm still not a perfect housekeeper, but I now have a plan. I may not follow it exactly, but I get much more done, and I take some pride & pleasure in the things I do at home.
Home Organization links:
FlyLady
Get Organized at Home
Get Organized Now!
The New Homemaker
Cooking is another skill that I'm learning late. I always considered hubby to be a better cook, and though I would cook occasionally, he and mom did the bulk of it. Mom is not able to do much cooking anymore. One thing that has helped me is to make menus ahead of time, then make a shopping list so I'll have the ingredients I need. One day, I'll have a well stocked pantry. There are lots of cooking & recipe sites online you can find with your search engine. If you like to save the recipes you find, there are several good programs available.
Cooking & Recipe Links:
Kraft Foods
Betty Crocker
Campbell's Kitchen
Food Network
Saving Dinner
One of the things I found most difficult about creating my web page was presenting the photos in a nice format. There are some programs available, but I haven't tried any of them yet. I had unlimited photos on Yahoo, which was replaced by Flickr. I have the free version which is limited.
Dad's Web Page
Joseph Durnal Blog
Amy's Blog
Brandy's Page