Package Deals

Instead of seasonal offers, I have decided to offer two special packages all the time. These seem to be the most popular and offer substantial savings. Their elegance is in their simplicity.

Purchase a 10 hour package and receive 1 extra hour free.
(11 total hours)

Purchase a 20 hour package and receive 3 extra hours free.
(23 hours total)

My rates vary per type of job, but are in the $70 - $100 range.

These packages are available to new and returning clients.

I am anything but a "hard-sell." If you are a new client, you can pay by the hour for the first session and if you decide to purchase a package, you can apply that to the balance at the end of the second session.

• No refunds on unused hours. Hours must be used within one year of purchase.
• Minimum 3-hour sessions hands-on and 1-hour sessions phone coaching.

The Sour Notes of Perfectionism

I had a great chat today with a client and my thoughts around one of my latest personal adventures and organizing finally coalesced.

I am taking a beginning voice class at my local junior college. "Beginning Voice" is a fancy way of saying "Singing lessons." It's a group class, but not a choir. We are each working on individual songs and each of us will sing solo in front of the class at least 5 times over the semester. Marvel Gardner (the most wonderful, charismatic, talented, and funny voice teacher in the world) then evaluates our performance on many (oh so many) different levels.

It is, at the same time, the most exciting and terrifying thing I have ever done. Maybe this is the kind of rush people get who like to bungee jump or skydive. (I'm NOT one of those.) I took a few singing lessons when I was in high school and sang in the chorus of our production of Oklahoma! But I have never sung solo. ("Singing" campfire songs in front of 300 people in Yosemite as a park ranger doesn't really qualify.)

But in these past few weeks, I have learned a lot about myself and even more about letting go of perfectionism, which I am forever pushing on my clients.(The letting go, that is, not perfectionism!)

Just before the night I thought I might have to sing solo for the first time, my little brain was having a huge conversation with itself. Mostly about rationalizing dropping out of the class. "The song she is having us sing is too hard." "It's not my style." "I can't remember the words." "I don't sing it very well." On and on.

The other part of me took over and argued "But you've been wanting to do this for years." "You've already spent the $199 on the course, and you won't get it back." "Just do it and see if you really DO suck at singing, because your shower head is NEVER going to give you an evaluation of your abilities or help you be a better singer."

Yes, I went to class. I got there too late to sign up for singing that night and instead I just listened to my fellow newbies sing "Long Time Ago" (you can hear a bit of this on iTunes if you search Long Time Ago sung by Yvonne Kenny), over and over. Some were good. Some not so good. Some were good in parts, and not so good in others. Nobody was perfect. The song sounded different on everyone since each student has a different voice.

What did I learn? I learned (and remembered) that good enough is good enough. And practicing the song really helps. And even if I sucked at the song, I was still doing it. Even if it wasn't my best effort (sometimes I don't know when to stop practicing and just start doing), I was still going to sing it, get evaluated and learn what to try to make it better. I learned by watching all the others go before me and listened carefully to Marvel's instructions. I put those into practice when I rehearsed, and yes, when I did perform finally, it wasn't perfect, but it didn't suck. She gave me pointers and I worked on them. And when I performed again, I did better. Still not perfect, and that's OK.

I experimented. I let myself feel the fear and still performed. This wasn't Carnegie Hall, it was voice class, and I owed it to all the other students who had also faced their fears and performed in front of me. Backing out would be letting them down. Backing out would be not holding up my part of the deal. Sing for me and I'll sing for you.

This little essay only scratches the surface of what I am learning in this 13-week commitment to this class. But it has given me even more respect for others who face their fears, commit to change, and let go of trying to be perfect for fear of being seen as less than perfect. My clients do that every day. Each time I walk into a new client's home, I am often the first they have let in in months, years or decades. I don't take that responsibility lightly and I am honored they have chosen me.

My class is called "The Joy of Singing" and I can only hope I bring the "Joy of Organizing" to my clients (or just inspire readers) in their quests for a more comfortable home and life...even though the path to that life might be scary, challenging, change-making and hopefully, thrilling at the same time.

Sometimes we hit the right note. Sometimes we don't. But it's awfully quiet if we don't sing at all.

The Top Three Reasons to Hoard

I attended a talk the other day and the speaker mentioned that there ARE some good reasons to hoard. It made me think a bit, even though it made me cringe. When I hear the word "hoard" I think of my clients who have so much stuff in their homes that they can no longer function. They can't sleep in their beds. They can't cook in their kitchens and they can't sit on their couch. Or take a shower or bath.

The meaning of the word might have changed, but I do tend to think we the word has always meant, "keeping too much."

But here are my top three times when it's OK to "hoard."

1. You are a squirrel (scrub jay, marmot, pika, rat, etc.) and you need to store food for the winter in order to survive. Even if there is "extra" when spring comes, at least it has padded your lair and insulated it.

2. You live in California (earthquakes), the midwest (tornadoes), a river delta (flooding) or the East (hurricanes and snow storms) and you have created an emergency preparedness kit so you have a better chance of surviving one of these disasters.

The next group I do tend to think of as a little "crazy" but I do harbor a little envy at the same time...

3. You are a "Dooms-dayer" that believes something is coming (an apocalypse, Commies, hippies or Democrats/Republicans) that will change the face of the earth forever and you will need supplies for 6 months or longer and the ability to be self-sufficient after that.

Group 1 is acting on instinct. Something tells them to gather food in order to live.

Groups 2 and 3 might be acting on either real or imagined future scenarios, but both are acting in an organized fashion and are doing what they can get to make sure they can get to their supplies and make use of them when they will need them.

Someone who is keeping things "for the future" or "when I might need them" and is not organized about it, is fooling him/herself into thinking they are just being prepared or frugal.

If you have so much stuff in your home that you can no longer do some basic things (mentioned above--sleep in your bed, sit on your couch, cook in your kitchen, use your bath or shower) because of the things that are piled on your bed, laying on your couch, "stored" in your kitchen or in your stove or piled in your tub or shower, then you have a problem called hoarding.

It may also be preventing you from seeing your family, or your own family from having friends over. It may have ruined a relationship. And it can kill you. (It can prevent emergency personnel from reaching you and even kill you directly if a pile falls on you or trips you up.)

If you are living like this, or know someone who is, please, please, let someone else know. Start seeing a therapist or counselor. Reach out to a friend.

There might be a "Hoarding Task Force" or alliance of some kind in your county or city.

Here are a few resources to start with.

A local mental health agency.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, try:
San Francisco Mental Health Association Institute on Hoarding and Cluttering, http://mha-sf.org/programs/ichc.cfm

National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, www.nsgcd.org
They provide free Fact Sheets as well as a referral service to help you find a professional organizer trained in helping clients with hoarding issues.

National Association of Professional Organizers, www.napo.net
You can find an organizer in your area. Just be sure s/he lists severe clutter or hoarding as a specialty.

I Care Village, www.icarevillage.com
A new comprehensive online resource for caregivers of the elderly. A section on hoarding is included.

Children of Hoarders website
Comprehensive website with links to local resources, legal advice, therapists in your part of the country. Personal stories, pictures, videos. Not for the faint of heart–but you will realize you are not alone!  http://www.childrenofhoarders.com


OCD Foundation (Hoarding Center)
This site is co-edited by Drs. Randy Frost and Gail Skeketee, authors (with David Tolin) of Buried in Treasures (see below). They are on the front line of research into hoarding behaviors.  http://www.ocfoundation.info/hoarding/


Books

Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving and Hoarding, by David Tolin, Randy Frost and Gail Steketee.

Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding, and Compulsive Acquiring, by Michael Tompkins and Tamara Hartl.

25 Creative Uses for Coffee Filters

I pilfered this from the Stacks and Stacks Facebook update, but it was so great I had to pass it on. I already tried two of them today! And I added one--used one for the veggie cuttings that I put in the compost bin. (I use un-bleached filters.)

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome… Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors..
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.

My Clean Fridge Blog

I'd like to announce the birth of a new blog...My Clean Fridge!

http://mycleanfridge.blogspot.com

I've decided that this whole "take a picture of your clean fridge" idea is pretty fun and would like to invite my readers over to this blog dedicated to clean fridges, clean pantries, clean whatever!

You are welcome to e-mail me pictures of your fridge (or whatever area you'd like to keep clean) on a monthly basis, as incentive for YOU to keep YOUR area clean! Feel free to send me the "Before" and "Afters" or just the "Afters" if you like. I will post your story and your photos on the blog as I get them.

My next project (bigger than my fridge) is my pantry....I might be brave enough to even post a "Before" shot and let you see the results as I go. I'm afraid it will take a whole day or several shorter sessions.

See you in the crisper!

Margaret Pearson Pinkham