Home Of The Year

Written by David Leonhardt


Continued from page 1

"The Home Of The Year contest Committee really does not care whether we spend time together," my wife said. She headed towardrepparttar kitchen in search of iced tea, nearly tripping over a bag of clothes alongrepparttar 100178 way. "They just want to see a spotless house with allrepparttar 100179 classiest decorations."

Who needs paper, anyway. Little Lady found a blank spot onrepparttar 100180 wall, and started applying her green crayon.

"Well, that might make a good House Of The Year, but a home is a place to live in. It needs to exude love and comfort, not cleanliness," I said.

Apparently, I was still clueless. "Homes ofrepparttar 100181 year never exude love, and certainly not comfort," she explained, picking up a copy of Good Housekeeping fromrepparttar 100182 floor. "They are showcases of a woman's ability to keep a house in immaculate condition with absolute precision ... despiterepparttar 100183 presence of a male creature around."

Ouch. Little Lady gleefully switched torepparttar 100184 red crayon. "Well I don't know anything about keeping a house tidy, but if that's whatrepparttar 100185 magazines want, why don't they call it The Janitorial Olympics?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's too hard for them to spell," my wife replied, smiling. "But they don't, so just get used to reality. We simply do not have evenrepparttar 100186 slightest, tiniest, most minuscule hope of ever winningrepparttar 100187 Home Of The Year contest."

By then, Little Lady had drawn three stick figures onrepparttar 100188 wall. "My home," she shouted, running to give Mommy a big hug.

I didn't need a magazine to tell me we already lived inrepparttar 100189 home ofrepparttar 100190 year. And ifrepparttar 100191 dust doesn't kill us off first, we will live there every year.

The author is David Leonhardt, The Happy Guy, author of The Get Happy Workbook at http://TheHappyGuy.com/happiness-workbook.html and publisher of Your Daily Dose of Happiness at http://TheHappyGuy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html . Visit his web site at http://TheHappyGuy.com .


Cleaning Out The Cabinets in Your Kitchen

Written by Stephanie Davies


Continued from page 1

The other method we will list isrepparttar painting method. This is a great method to use if you are a creative type, and also if you have children who have difficulty putting things where they should. Simply acquire several different colors of paint (repparttar 100177 surface depends upon what type paint. Please use your best judgment), and a paintbrush. After grouping your items, look at and evaluate your space available. Make out a map of sorts, and be sure to leave room for future accommodations. Once you have decided in your mind or on a sheet of paper where everything will go you can do one ofrepparttar 100178 two following things. First you can simply paint lines aroundrepparttar 100179 areas where certain groups will sit. For instance, draw a square line inrepparttar 100180 corner ofrepparttar 100181 cabinet exactly where your spices will be. You can ,makerepparttar 100182 lines straight, wavy, dotted, curly...whatever your imagination desires! Then after lettingrepparttar 100183 paint dry, placerepparttar 100184 items in their designated areas. The other way of doing this is to paintrepparttar 100185 entire area in instead of just drawing lines. This can be a lot more challenging, but also a lot prettier. Imagine for a moment, opening a pretty white cabinet with brass handles, and findingrepparttar 100186 inside painted with four different pastel colors, each having its own group of like minded items. Very pretty indeed! In fact, if you are an artist, you can paint any type of motif or design for a specific category.

Now, while you are doing this there are several things to keep in mind. First, remember to clean outrepparttar 100187 shelves while you have everything out. Secondly, there will be several things you find that you know won't be used...get rid of them. Thirdly, you probably will find several items that just won't have a category of their own. For this you can make a "misc" box or section, or else place it in a different room or area.

I hope these ideas will help you to createrepparttar 100188 kitchen of your dreams, and to find things easier inrepparttar 100189 meantime. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions.

Stephanie is the webmaster of StephanieDavies.com and provides live telephone advice of all kinds to people from all over the world. She gives advice on depression, mental health, spirituality, sexuality, relationships, and many other topics. For more information please visit her website at http://www.stephaniedavies.com or subscribe to her newsletter by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liveadvice


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