Post Office

 Did you know that if a package is going to be sent Priority Mail, USPS will come pick it up for you? I was returning something by mail today and the postage was already marked Priority. Instead of having to go to the post office or a dropbox I just scheduled a pickup.  And now I feel like a pampered Princess it is nice sometimes.

If you are in Livermore, I will let you in on a not-so-secret. You never have to go to the downtown post office. Just go to the one at the Portola Gas Station.  There is never a line, even during the holidays, and it is on the way to Costco from where we live!

Keeping things simple

Things that matter most. Here is a great talk about it:

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/11/of-things-that-matter-most?lang=eng

Painless er... stainless steel

Four words: stainless steel shower caddy

I am normally a cheapskate, but my stainless steel shower caddy was worth the $25. It means I don't have to waste time or energy (especially hand intensive scrubbing) on trying to get the rust off of my shower caddy. Love it!

Touch it once

When it comes to cleaning -- touch it once!

This idea is from Don's brother, Rick Dowdle. I am not sure if he made it up, if he got it from his mom, or what. Cleaning is made a lot easier if you clean up along the way. For example, say I want to clean up the living room. I am tempted to take some of Stuey’s items and just toss them into his room to take care of them later, but honestly that makes another job for me to do. It is far easier to just walk a little faster and put the items where they belong. If I'm cooking eggs, instead of during the egg shells into the sink to rest until I do the dishes, I can put them directly into the compost container, which is under the sink. It seems like it would just be obvious, but it helps me when I consciously think of eliminating steps.


This book that I once read, The Art of Homemaking, suggested something similar. The author reminds us that it is easier to immediately clean up a jam jar that has stickiness on the outside, than it is to later clean all the services that it touched, and have to scrub the stickiness off. Good point.