10 years ago today…9/11/2001

We all have our own memory of 9/11/2001. What we have taken from that day and learned from is an individual experience based on our own feelings. (as if you needed me to tell you)

On this 10 year anniversary as Bill (hubby) and I are watching the tv and sharing with our boys what our own experiences were that day. At the time we lived in Northern Virginia. Dulles Airport was in our back yard. Bill worked in DC across from the White House. He commuted into the city each day. September 11th, 2001 started out like every other day. I was home with our middle son who was only 2 years old (now 12) and our oldest who was 6 (now 15) and in 1st grade(our youngest who is 8 was not born yet). Bill was at work. I honestly do not remember how I found out, other than it was on tv. I do remember panicking. I tried calling Bill. He did not answer his desk phone. He was working in another building. We did not have cell phones. People were panicking all over. No one felt safe. No one knew what was next. I felt helpless. I knew I had to protect my children but I had no idea what I was protecting them from. The Elementary School went into lock down, we had fighter jets flying over us because they thought the White House was a target. I still was not able to reach Bill. The phone lines were jammed up and calls were not going through. He could not call me either. He had to call his family in NY to call my family in NY to have them call me. I did not get to hear his voice. Everything was happening so fast that details became a distant memory because my feelings were taking over. Bill remembers his walk back to his office as a day he will never forget either. He said the panick on people’s faces, screaming, running because they thought there was a bomb. He said he remembers standing still trying to figure out what he should do. I felt like Everything was happening in slow motion yet it was all happening so fast.

I remember gathering with neighbors and we were all in awe listening to the jets fly over. Paralyzed with fear, a fear that none of us had ever experienced before. It still had not sunk in as to what was really happening.

Bill was stuck in DC trying to get out as was everyone else. No one felt safe no matter where you were. We waited all day for Bill to finally arrive home. As relieved as I was to have him walk through the door, I couldn’t help but feel for all those who were not going to have someone in their family come home safe. Our oldest son’s Elementary School’s Principal lost her son in one of the World Trade Centers.

We were all changed forever.

Where were you on September 21, 1989?

My memory of Hurricane Hugo…

Today I am spending a day at home inside with my family due to rain and winds from Hurricane Irene here in North Carolina. As I watch and listen to the news it brings me back to September 21, 1989 when Hurricane Hugo blew threw South Carolina. At that time I was much younger (19) and was living in Myrtle Beach with my boyfriend and his brother. We had only been in Myrtle Beach for about a month. We had moved there to go to College. I lived on Campus in Florence, S.C. and my boyfriend and his brother lived in a condo on Myrtle Beach. I soon realized that this is not where I wanted to be. I know what was I thinking, right? So I made plans to move back home in upstate New York. My mother was going to fly down and then drive back with me. Well wouldn’t you know the day she was scheduled to fly down was the same day Hugo was coming! No one was able to convince her not to fly down. She had her mind set, hurricane or not! (If you know me personally and/or my mother then you understand how stubborn we are and we stop at nothing for family)

So, Irene reminded me just how fast the weather can change in an instant and sometimes without warning, which is what happened that day. At 9am we received a knock on the door informing us that we had an hour to evacuate and get out. I thought to myself I can’t evacuate and leave my mother is on a flight down. She had flown from Albany, NY to Reagan National. Once she arrived at Reagan and was told they could not fly into Florence but could fly into Columbia. My mother made the decision to fly to Columbia. She panicked because no one had heard from me yet. The plan was for me to meet her in Florence but now she was headed to Columbia and no one knew where I was. Remember, it was 1989 so there were no cell phones, no way to text so the only way I could communicate was to call collect from a pay phone when I was able to. My Grandmother was our point of contact. We would call her and update her as to where we were so she could relay the information to the other one. No one knew that we were in bumper to bumper traffic. Normally it took about 45 minutes to drive from Myrtle Beach to Florence and on this day it took 3 hours. We had three different vehicles because we were not allowed to leave the vehicles on property. I drove stick-shift, it was hot and we moved very slowly because so many people were trying to get out. At this point I did not know my mom was flying into Columbia. When we finally made it to Florence and called my grandmother that is when I found out that my mother was flying to Columbia! Now I was panicked, not only was the hurricane coming but how was I going to find my mom now? There was no time to think so we started driving towards Columbia! During this time Hugo had changed its path again. I felt as if Hugo was following us, it seemed like we couldn’t drive fast enough! What a mess! We finally made it to Columbia Airport and found my mother! I was so relieved. It was time to get back on the road. We knew we had to keep driving north to find safety. We had no idea where or when that would be.

We drove to a town called Newberry. We stopped to get gas. The attendant told us we needed to get off the road or we would not make it. He told us about a local school that was serving as a shelter and that is where we went. Thank God we decided to stay at the shelter because Hugo came right up the path that we were driving, we would have gotten caught in it. It was bad enough that we were in this big brick building listening to Hugo go over the top of us. The noise was one that you never forget.

When the sun came up as much as you wanted to see outside, you almost didn’t. We weren’t allowed back to the condo since it was right on the beach and the damage was bad. When we were finally able to return, the drive was nothing short of being in shock. Why were some homes demolished and others weren’t touched, there was the obvious trees down, wires down but then there were boats that had been brought to shore and other homes moved to another location and all the personal items all over. I will never forget looking at the in ground pool and it was ripped out of the ground and looked like someone rolled it up. It was surreal. People’s lives were changed. I did not lose anything personal as everything that I had was with me in my car since I was already planning to move back. I was never so happy to move back home than I was after that. I grew up in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York, so I was used to cold and snow, but Hurricanes? That was a different story!

Here is a map showing Hurricane Hugo’s path!

Here is a map of South Carolina showing where Newberry is: we went from Myrtle Beach up to Florence then over to Columbia and then up to Newberry to reach safety.

Have you experienced a Hurricane? I Would love to hear your story!
Michelle

What are you doing to wind down your summer?

Although summers are a little different in our household because two of my three boys do not get a full traditional summer vacation because they are in year round school and my oldest is in High School which follows the traditional calendar. Year round means they are in school for 9 weeks and then off for 3 weeks. So, yes that means my boys are on different school calendars and yes I have two calendars that I have to follow so talk about having to be organized! Sounds crazy I know but it really isn’t! When they were all in year round it made it easier to do things whether that meant going out of town to visit family, taking a vacation, or just doing something fun locally but as they became more involved in sports it makes it hard to have any free time! (My oldest son has played year round baseball for the past 3 years) So the different calendars really do not make much of a difference anyway because someone is always playing a sport.

What I enjoy about the year round calendar is that since I work from home, it is nice to plan my work around their breaks which gives me mandatory breaks throughout the year rather than having a whole summer that I have to juggle work and them! With my oldest being home for the summer it is easy and does not affect my work day other than taking him to and from where he needs to be. When the younger two are on break it does require me to be more hands on because my youngest who is 8 still likes to do fun things and have my attention so I have to build that in to my work day. All the boys have enjoyed the year round calendar because by the third week they are ready to be back in school because the “I’m Bored” starts to come into play and so they are eager to get back and see their friends. When they return to school they know that in 9 weeks they will get another break. So, it works for us! As with anything in life, things are always changing.

Right now my younger two are on their last week of break and my oldest is gearing up to head back to school as well next week. The last week is usually a mixed bag of fun and work! During the tail end of the summer is when I focus on cleaning and organizing the boys because it just makes sense for our family and for me. At the beginiing of August I write down the tasks that I need and want to get done before they start their new school year and from there I schedule those tasks on my calendar so that I know I am allowing time to tackle them, otherwise they would never get done. What is on my list you ask? Well, the obvious ones such as school supplies, clothing, sports equipment and clothing and then I take a look around the house to see what needs to be worked on. I usually have them do a clean out of the toy closet and when I work with them to clean out I mean I make them choose items that they no longer use to either donate or consign or toss. Why do I make them choose? I have done this ever since they were little and by now they know the drill and I don’t have to listen to but I don’t want to give that away or I use that, by making them choose and think about their own choices teaches them that we do not need to fill our lives and homes with “stuff” that we do not need and the items that they ‘thought’ they had to have, well now they realize geesh I really wanted that but I really never used it so it is also a learning lesson as well. I also do a clean out of clothing, all the summer clothes that they no longer can fit into and then I know what they are going to need going forward for the start of the new year. Now we are lucky as we live in the South so they do not need pants, sweaters, and such to start with so I am able to shop the clearance racks for their back to school clothing because it is warm weather still and they will be in shorts well into October! I will do another post about my bargains that I have been scoring and how I use my coupons with sales to maximize and plan my shooping trips to try and save the most money I can! I do not like to pay full price for clothing or shoes because they grow out of them so fast! I would much rather spend our dollars on their sports, well let me be honest here a moment, I really don’t like that either but I am ok with it because they love it and I love watching them play!

We also clean out closets and dressers as well. Today my task was to work in my youngest son’s closet to help him clean out all his baseball hats and all his sports jerseys! It has been bothering me all summer but I let it go until now because there is no sense in cleaning it up while he is home because in a matter of hours it will be back to where we started! The first thing we worked on was all his hats, I had him go through and take out all the ones he either doesn’t like and/or doesn’t wear and set those aside. The ones he is going to keep we put back on his hat organizer inside his closet door as you can see here in this picture!

The next task was to clean out and hang up his jerseys that he wants to wear. Now to those of you who have girls and have to deal with all those little girly accessories well these jerserys are the equivalent! They are always a mess! So he put them into categories by color (that was his doing, not mine I just told him to sort!) and once they were sorted we then decided which ones he wanted to hang and the other ones we folded and put into a bin. As we hung them we categorized them according to “sport”!

As you can see here in this photo!

So, that brings me to you! What are you doing to wind down your summer?
If you have school aged children, what do you do to get ready for back to school? Besides the obvious, school shopping! Do you organize? Clean? Take the summer off? None of the above? All of the above?

I would love to hear your story!
Michelle

Coupon Cutting Survival Tips

Michelle’s Tips

You may be asking yourself, are coupons really worth the effort? Do you really save enough money to make it worth the time? I used to be one of those people who thought coupons were too much effort and I thought that I did not have time for one more thing on my never ending to-do list, until now. With gas prices at an all time high and food prices on the rise, I decided I needed to make coupons work. I mean it is all the rage, all my friends are doing it and saving big so why not me?

I started out small and after a few times of saving money it felt great! We all like positive reinforcement so I kept going and after time it became a habit. Now I never shop without coupons. No, I am not extreme and I do not have stock piles because I only buy what I need. There are times though when I will buy items when they are buy one get one free because that is a great way to donate items during food drives and for back to school items that you can give to your child’s classroom. There is always someone who can use something and it feels great to give back. The best part is that it did not cost me anything extra so it is a win win situation!

Ok, so decided that you are going to give coupons a try too and are wondering where to start? I hope that after you read this post this you will have a road map so you can start your own coupon journey. When I started I did not have all the answers. There are no answers because we all do it differently and the important thing to remember is that you are going to do it differently too and that is ok. I learned through trial and error and so will you. Remember it is important to find what works for YOU!

Getting started can be overwhelming. You might feel stressed, confused and you may feel like not trying but if your goal is like mine and that is to save your household money then it is worth trying! I know you want to save money and I know you are looking for ways to save time and you want it be simple! Me too!

There are so many different ways to get coupons now (and there are probably ways that I do not know about, so maybe you can teach me those) You can get them the old fashioned way, the Sunday newspaper, or you can go online. There are so many sites out there that you could get lost looking so I say just find a few that fit your style. If you try and do too much you will stress yourself out and end up quitting.

These are some of the sites that I use myself (please note that I am not compensated in any way for mentioning them, these are my own opinions) I like these sites because you can sign up to receive their newsletters.
1. The Krazy Coupon Lady @ http://thekrazycouponlady.com Their newsletters are great because they email you the stores along with the sales that are going on that week along with the coupons that you can use, so basically they spell it out for you. So ‘they’ will save you time from having to do it all on your own.

2.Thrifty Girl @ http://thriftygrl.com This is a great site because she will share different sales/specials that are going on as well as recipes.
3. Coupon Mom @ http://www.couponmom.com/ This is a wonderful resource! You can sign up to get coupons delivered to your email inbox!

Ok, so let’s start cutting!

First thing you need to do is decide when you are going to cut coupons. Then you need to schedule that on your calendar (You are using a calendar right? If not, get one!)Yes, you are actually going to ‘schedule’ a time with yourself to cut coupons! By making the time each week you are giving yourself the time, rather than waiting until you find the time. I cut coupons on Sunday. My husband likes to go and get the paper on Sunday mornings and he usually brings me back an iced latte as well. Isn’t that sweet? I also plan a time for printing the coupons from the email newsletters. I only clip what I need, some experts say otherwise. Cutting coupons will take time, patience and consistency but you get to decide how much time and effort you want to put into it. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. All I am doing is sharing with you what I do because it works for me. Other people will have their ways of doing this and I am sure if you searched online you would find all kinds of posts about coupons. I typically spend 1-2 hours on Sunday cutting and organizing them. I usually spend about an hour during the week printing the coupons from the emails.

Next make a list of items that you need. I have a magnetic list that I keep on the front of the fridge that I (or any member of my household I hope they are reading this) can write down the items that are needed as I come across them. Then when I go to make my grocery list I already have those items listed. I cross off the items when I write them on my grocery list and then I put the list back on the fridge.

Now you can plan your menu. I only plan a week at a time. We are a family of five with three boys who play sports year round. So that means we are on the go all the time and our schedule is always changing. Planning more than a week did not work as I found myself not sticking to the menu. We would eat out unexpectedly and after having purchased the items needed for those meals, we spent more and wasted food. This does not mean it would not work for your lifestyle. I know people who plan their meals based on what is on sale. I do a combination of what is on sale and what our schedule is like for that week. For example, if we have 3 nights of ball games then I will plan for crock-pot meals for those nights. After planning your menu you make your grocery list based on what you need.

Look over your list for any coupons that you can use on the items. I like to maximize my savings by using coupons when items are on sale. If you have coupons that you are going to use, then make sure you keep them with your list so they will be all set to go. For the coupons that you are not going to use, you can put those away. What do you mean you don’t know where to put them?

You will need a “system” for keeping your coupons organized? Why do I call it a system? Well because there is more to it than just a coupon organizer. You will need something that is going to get you from start to finish. You can store your coupons in whatever you want but if it does not help you “use” your coupons then it is not serving its purpose and they will end up in a pile somewhere and when anything is in a pile, we can’t ‘see’ what we need and therefore go unused.

Here are some things to ask yourself when setting up your system:
1. Will you use a standard coupon organizer? I tried this but did not work well because you can’t see all the coupons at once, you have to take them all out in order to see what you have and that becomes time consuming and a lot of work
2. Will you purchase one?
3. Are you going to create your own coupon binder

I started out using the Couponizer @ http://www.thecouponizer.com and you can also see that I was couponizer of the month in October of 2006 http://www.thecouponizer.com/couponizer_otm_2006.php This is a really great system for getting started. It comes with a complete guide that will teach you how to coupon. I highly recommend this for anyone.

I now use my own binder system and the only reason that I no longer use the Couponizer is because of its’ size. I cut more coupons now and so I need something bigger. I use a binder of my choice and the inside comes from the Coupon Magic Organizer @ http://www.couponmagicorganizer.com/

Pictured here is my own personal coupon binder. I just chose a binder that I liked and added the pages

The first page that you see when you open it up is a full page two sided clear pocket page and I keep my grocery list along with any coupons that I am going to use right in the front

The next pages that you are looking at on the left side is a list of clean eating foods that I am trying to learn to incorporate into our lifestyle and on the right side is where I keep extra paper for writing my lists on – these are left over from when I print out coupons and instead of throwing away the paper I reuse them

Now you are looking at the section on the left is where I keep receipts that I may need for returns and on the right is where I keep store specific coupons, these slots are bigger so they work out nicely

And this is the section where I have dividers and clear pages for the coupons and there you have it simple and easy! YOU can do it too!

Another resource for creating your own coupon system can be found at The Krazy Coupon Lady @ http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/ This section is for beginners!

Now that you have found a system that you like and are using (Yes, you will have to use it in order for it to work, its just like organizing, you can get your “stuff” organized and if you don’t maintain it then it will go back to being disorganized and the same is true for using coupons. If you don’t remember to take them with you when you go shopping then you have wasted your time cutting them, organizing them causing you to spend more on groceries than you need to. So, how do you remember to take the coupons with you? One of the ways I use to help me remember is by keeping my binder in the kitchen drawer. I have an actual ‘home’ for it so that I know (and anyone else in my home ) where it is. Yes, there are times that I forget it. I also keep my grocery list and menu right with the binder so when it is time to go to the store I have everything I need and I can just grab and go!

*tip* when putting your new coupons in the binder be sure to take out the expired ones. I also take out any coupons that are about to expire and keep them with my grocery list and if I don’t use them I discard them.

The expired or unused coupons you can go to Krazy Coupon Lady’s website as she uses this program: OverSeas Coupon Program @ http://www.ocpnet.org/

My favorite part of saving money using coupons is when an item is buy one get one free and I use a coupon!

My keys to success:
1. Make the time
2. Find a system that you fits your lifestyle
3. Use the coupons!

I hope this helps you in some way and if I can answer any questions that you may have please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Happy Couponing!

Michelle

I was recently a guest on the Joyful Organizer Radio Show which you can listen to here: (Click on Joyful Organizer and then scroll down a little to find my episode)

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf

Listen to internet radio with The Joyful Organizer on Blog Talk Radio

“The Parents Guide To Uncluttering Your Home”

I am excited to announce that my tips were featured in a new book just released titled “The Parents Guide to Uncluttering Your Home” By Janet Morris Grimes.

You can find my tips in Chapter 5 “Airing Your Dirty Laundry” on pages 113/114!
Please message me if you are interested in purchasing your own copy of the book and I will email you the link!
Thank you!

Where is Michelle and what has she been up to?

My best friend was recently diagnosed with Stage IV Brain Cancer. It took my breath away when I heard those words on the phone in early March. She is my friend from childhood and we have been friends through thick and thin, you know that kind of friend? Well that is our friendship. After the shock of the news (it hasn’t completely worn off because it still does not seem real) I knew I had to do something. Now mind you, she lives in New York Sate and I in North Carolina so there are some miles between us but that wasn’t going to stop me. I knew the one thing that I could do to help was to do a fundraiser. The fact that I had never planned one or ever been involved with the planning of one wasn’t going to keep me from trying. So I reached out to another friend that was local and together we decided to do this. In the meantime I created a place where I could start collecting donations for those that would not be able to attend the fundraiser, the online site also allows me to help spread the word and reach people that we went to school with. So, I have been busy planning a fundraiser, seeking donations and planning a trip to NY so that I can spend some time with her taking her to her appointments. So I apologize for the slow start for this blog as I had intentions of being farther along than I am as I had to set aside some of my “stuff” so that I could focus on what was right in front of me at this given time which you can read more about what I have been doing.

share.

My new space here at MeetMichelleM

This is only my 2nd blog post so bear with me. First, what in the world does MeetMichelleM mean? Well I came up with that name because I wanted it to feel welcoming. I wanted to keep things simple (imagine that?) by using my name and since my name consists of all M’s, well except my middle name (My maiden name is Monroe and my married name is Morton) I did a play off the M’s. Now I probably just confused you more!

I started this blog because I want this to be a place where we can share and learn together. This is not a place for me to tell you how to do it all. I will share with you what works and what does not work for my family not because it is the answer to yours but instead my hope is that you will walk away with a different perspective. I do not have all the answers and if I did trust me I would not be sitting here writing blog posts, I would be retired and sitting on a beach drinking yummy drinks with an umbrella. I am not saying that if you follow my advice, your life will be perfectly organized. I am telling you up front that there is no such thing as perfectly organized! I know, breaking news right? This is not going to be another organizing blog where I talk about how to line up all your silverware in your drawers and that if you go out and buy cute little containers you will live happily organized. My hope is that I will be a different voice and that you will learn and I will learn from you. This is not a space for perfection so if that is what you are looking for then this is not going to be the blog you will want to follow. My blog posts will not be perfect, they will have spelling errors, they will have grammar mistakes because I write like I talk and if you know me in real life then you know I LOVE to talk! What I can tell you is that this blog will be very real. I will not share with you anything that I have not tried (good and bad) and that I would not do myself. Most of what I will share with you is how I make it work for my lifestyle. My family consists of myself, my hubby and three boys ages 15, 11 and 7 and a puggle. It has taken me years to figure out what systems work and what don’t and that is ok because our lives are always changing and so are our needs. Just because something works today does not mean it will tomorrow. You have to recognize that and be willing to change to fit your needs. I want to give you some tools to add to your tool box that will help you simplify and declutter your life. Sometimes it will be about money, food and other times it will be about my boys and other times I will discuss organizing and there will be times that I will ask you questions with areas in my life that I need help with.

While you are learning from me with my tips that I will be sharing I ask that you be patient with me as I learn how to be in this new space. There is a lot of information that I am excited to share with you, but in the process I have a lot of learning to do as well. We will be learning together. I will be patient with you and I hope you will be patient with me.

I love feedback and I welcome any and all questions so please know that you are welcome in my space and my ears are always open. Even though I like to talk, I am a great listener as well.

I want you to be you and use your authentic voice. We all have a voice, so what are you going to say?

Happy Valentine’s Day from my heart to yours!

What does Valentine’s Day mean to me?

The first time I realized that Valentine’s Day was not about jewelry, chocolates, flowers, going out to dinner was when I met Bill. It was our first Valentine’s Day together. I had driven 2.5 hours in a snow storm to see him and when I arrived I was welcomed with a very familiar smell ~ the smell of warm brownies! No kidding! Yes, he actually made me a pan of brownies. No one had ever done that before for me. I was so touched that he came home from work, made brownies and waited for me. He had me at brownies…just saying!

Early in our marriage when our boys were young and had an early bedtime we would celebrate by eating with them and then once they were in bed we would make filet and lobster tails and enjoy quiet time just the two of us. There were also times when we hand write our own Valentine’s to each other. I loved doing this because it was a way for us to stop and take the time to think of the other person. It was a great way to reconnect. Life is so busy that if you do not stop and make the time for the little things you forget all the things that made you fall in love in the first place.

Valentine’s Day has never been about material items. I truly believe that is why our relationship is so strong today.

Now that our three boys are older and do not go to bed early we decided years back that we would start making Valentine’s Day a day to stop and celebrate our family. I know many of you feel that it is just a made up Holiday by Hallmark. I agree to some degree. I don’t count it as a Holiday per say but I use it as a reminder on the calendar to stop and celebrate our love. Not just as husband and wife, but as a family. We have our boys make their cards to give each other and they have to write what they like best about each other. This may sound corny to some but I have boys and I want to teach them to express themselves. I want them to appreciate each other and if I do not make them take the time to do that we would never do it. Plain and simple. It is sad that we live life that like, we take it for granted until something bad happens. Well I try not to do that. I use those made up Holidays as a reminder to stop and take time for each other. We have three boys in three different age brackets so it is not easy and we get very busy all year going from one event to another.

We celebrate together as a family and the reason for the day is our love for one another.

I hope that one day my sons will carry on some of these traditions that we share together and if not I hope they create new ones to share with their families.

You can read a little more here about how we celebrate as a family:

Ladies’ Home Journal

Reach out to someone and just say hello… you never know who needs to hear from you.

I hope that you will take some time this Valentine’s Day to do something to celebrate YOU!

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Michelle