Only Time Will Tell...

No Pictures in THIS Post

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:31:00 +0000

I love posts with pictures in them! But, I am going to have to learn that as pretty as they make the page, as much as they enhance the story, they are time consuming to prep and put into each post.

That was one of my goals for this blog to make it visually appealing. But I am letting that one go. Have you noticed that I have not posted in forever? I am going to do better from this point forward.

Also, I am working on a method to do posts via video. Yup - it's the other extreme I know! But, I realized that I am not so much of a writer as I just like to talk to people. With the new video log idea, I'm more likely to get more good content out there. So, look for that to be incorporated too.

So that was just a simple bit about what I've planned. Stay tuned in!

Printing is expensive!!!

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Here is a great suggestion for saving printer ink. I have an HP laser printer, but this would apply if you are using ANY printer brand or whether it's inkjet or laser.

First, anytime I print something that comes out of the printer wrong or that well-known last page that just has a page# and url at the bottom with nothing else worth keeping - I save it. It goes in a bin next to the printer. I load that paper in the printer
upside-down for random things I want to print because the backside doesn't really matter. Saving me $ on paper and lots of trees. Love that!

I also keep a three things near my desk.

Trash can
Shredder
Carton/box top or the cardboard box that is underneath a case of water you bought.

The first 2 are self-explanatory. The box top is for your paper trash. You know when you get a bill and it has envelopes and inserts stuffed in there with the statement? How about old magazines? And flyers from the mailbox that you have no interest in. Anything paper that you can recycle goes in it. I have one by my kitchen desk and my husband has one by his desk too. We empty them when they're full - into a bin in the garage - and that gets taken to our local recycling center!

Now about those ink cartridges...

Ask yourself each time you print... Does this really need to be in color?

Most of the time, it doesn't. So why are you wasting your color inks when they are so expensive? Especially for laser printers - there is one black cartridge and three color ones!

Here's what I do. I will explain with my printer in the example, but most printers give you options before you print.

After you click the printer icon and the window opens, follow these instructions...

There you have it! Save your $ and be conscious of what you choose to do. I hope that you start making this a habit. We can stop wasting resources and consuming more than we need to... and save our $ for our own pockets and not someone else's!

Toodles,
Joanne

Cheesy Baked Chicken

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:59:00 +0000

OK, this is so random. But, I gotta tell ya!

I got this recipe off of my 2008 Flagstar Bank Calendar for the month of October. Kera and her boyfriend came over in October (before I noticed the recipe under the huge picture on the calendar) and told me that they had entertained some friends at his house the night before. Jared made this very easy chicken recipe telling me the ingredients and how he made it, and everyone raved about it. So, they left and the very next day I notice this recipe on the calendar hanging in my kitchen and "I'll be darned!" if it wasn't almost exactly the same!

So, I go out and get the ingredients on my next jaunt to the grocery store. So, simple, quick, easy, and YES, it is "deelish"! We are having it for the second time tonight and I just thought "this is just too good not to share". In my house, I have to double it.

CHEESY BAKED CHICKEN

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves in a baking dish. Top each breast with a slice of Swiss cheese. Mix 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1/2 cup of fat-free milk, and 1/2 cup of nonfat sour cream and pour over chicken and cheese. Top with 1-1/2 cups of herb stuffing crumbs; cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

(Keeping it short, but at least I posted something!)

Gotta run...dinner's ready!

It's Not Fair!!!

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:21:00 +0000

(And, yes, I do like cheese with my whine!) Okay, it's time to vent. ~~You can totally disregard my previous post about having a good day!~~

My 21-year-old son is home from college for the weekend. He comes in my office to ask me a question.

"Do you know any websites, where I can get information about citing sources", he asked.
Thinking back to when I was in college I say, "I had this wonderful book, which I consulted for almost every paper, but it will take me some time to figure out where it is".

On second thought, I am sitting at my computer and figure there's got to be sources online to help answer this question. So, I pull up my browser and type "MLA bibliography" in the search box. I click on the first source that shows up on the page, and it takes me to EasyBib. (I already don't like the sound of this.) When the page opens up, what do I see? A video tutorial, of course! I am such a visual learner, I could spend a whole week watching how-to videos on YouTube!

"Well, how cool is this", I say sarcastically, as I hit the play button. "Pull up a stool and we'll watch this five minute video".

As we watch the video. My memory flashes back to the days of stacks of index cards, receiving graded reports back only to find points deducted in my bibliography section of the paper for a semi-colon where a colon should have been or because something was underlined where it should have been italicized. Not to mention having to take my stack of cards and spread them out just to make sure they were in alphabetical order as I transcribed them into my computer. Then there was the forgotten one. The one sentence that I got from a source and forgot to get the citations from it! That perfect transitional sentence! UGH!

All he has to do is choose the type of source he wants to cite from a list. Then a window pops up where he enters the prompted data into fields. Push a button and PRESTO! It translates all of them, puts them in alphabetical order and even spits them out into a MS Word document.

So, off he goes in total bliss. I can hear him throughout the afternoon exclaiming from the other room to himself, "OMG, this is so awesome"! And all of his woes about term papers on Facebook now turned to "Chris is acing these term papers!" Yada, yada, yada. (Gee, thanks mom.)

Perhaps his generation takes it for granted how easy life is with all this technology. But then again, perhaps mine did, and we didn't know how hard our parents had it either. At any rate, we choose to work hard for our goals. My college career took me as long to attain as my twelve years in grade school. Yes, twelve long years to get my degree. Looking back, it was worth it.

Joanne

How do YOU have a good day?

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:37:00 +0000

I have something to say about holding yourself accountable. We have such complex minds. Do you realize how much we self-sabotage with our thoughts, words and actions? We make ourselves feel guilty by setting expectations for ourselves and then falling short. We make agreements with ourselves that we don't keep. We make goals and then fail to reach them. No wonder we have low self esteem and lack of motivation!

I am determined to stop the self-talk that's negative. I believe that we have power beyond the scope of what we think we have! The first thing we can do is to start creating something each day that we feel good about. for example, I, for one, recently started my frequent no-coffee-for-a-week caffeine cleanse rally.

OK, that's not the thing that's making me feel good: I'm getting to that! Now, I love a cup of coffee in the morning as much as the next person. I have a ritual of making a certain blend, a certain way, with a french press and a special cup or travel mug and the time I spend drinking my java is a regular "pre-morning" morning feel-good fix. AND if, Heaven forbid, someone should use my cup, take my travel mug (and my son has been known to do that despite the fact that I've told him I would drive toothpick's under his fingernails if he did it again) or something else should come up and I don't get to enjoy my coffee ritual (disclaimer here) I cannot be held responsible for the actions that take over my body and my mouth while I walk around the house in a grumpy state of being!

Today was my third day without my ritual morning coffee fix. I recognized that I chose to do this because I believe it's good for me. I chose this, not you, or my husband or my parents or anyone else. There simply is no one to blame.

My point is, it would be so easy to blame someone else for our shortcomings, flaws and moods even if they are self-inflicted! Even just an emotion of "not feeling good" is no one else's fault but mine.

So instead of focusing my attention on the LACK I was feeling, I chose to do something else to focus on and make it a good day! It was chilly all night since this turn of the season to Fall. I was inside working until lunchtime. I really paid no attention to the weather until I got hungry and went to the kitchen for something to eat. The sun was beckoning me! It's warmth was calling to me and I felt like I could use a boost of vitamin D! I made some broccoli cheddar soup in a favorite bowl (because it was a gift from a friend I made while living in Germany). I have had this bowl for two moves and roughly twenty years! The saucer was lost when I made some soup for a neighbor when they were sick and took it over never to have the saucer returned. So be it...won't fret.

My favorite old spoon too. Why? I don't know, because it's kinda square, I guess! I like things that don't fit the mold, you know? So I sat down on a chair on my back deck to enjoy my soup. I didn't even have to blow on it to cool it on the spoon, the wind did that for me! Just me, the dog, and the birds going to the bird feeder like it was a drive-through window at lunch hour. A fly-by every minute. Ahhhh!

In a nutshell, I held myself accountable for my mood. I took control, had the power, and recognized my ability to change my perspective about the whole thing. Not a big deal really to give up coffee, but I am trying to make a point here. Empower yourself! Change your thoughts from something not good to something great! Enjoy the simple pleasures and do something for yourself that you decide to do for you! If your in a pickle, look at your mindset about the situation. Whatever it is, it just is. Your perspective of it is what counts. Are you going to carry it all day? Take my advice and HAVE A GOOD DAY!

They're Back!

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Do you believe in Fairies?
Well, I do! More than likely you may believe in them too after reading this. Or at least scratching your head over this "supernatural-natural" marvel! [Did I just make up a new craze?]

Let me explain...
I wrote an email to some of my friends an family before this blog existed, which was September 15th to be exact. In the email I explained what was happening.

Photo credit: Flickr - Creative Commons

The Email...

Don't open the pics until after you read this...and remember, we are STILL
having a drought here in GA.
This is our recently remodeled front entry. A few weeks ago, I noticed some mushrooms growing in the shape of a half circle just spanning in front of the deck area that juts forward in the center. I couldn't help but see them! As you can see in the first picture, by the left-most mushroom is my dog Daisy. She is a small yorkshire terrier. These mushrooms are as big as my hand! So, mental note to self...interesting.
Then David (my second-son) mows the lawn.
Next, the mushrooms emerge AGAIN only this time the arch of the half circle is bigger. There are no other mushrooms in my front or back yard or the neighbor’s yards on the rest of the street, not one. So, mental note to self again. At this point, I am questioning what it is while, at the same time, feeling it is good energy and a blessing.
Backstory...
In light of all the natural disasters and fires everywhere, I have consciously been saying prayer while walking the property barefoot and asking the spirits here to protect this land and home that I am borrowing from future generations. To protect my dwelling place and family and to place good spirits of protection at all entrances and above and below. I acknowledge that bad and negative spirits do exist, but I ask them to stay out of our "circle". I offer food to the spirits and the little people, the swimmers and the flyers, the creepy-crawlies, the fairies and gnomes, the standing people (trees) and plant and rock people, the seen and the unseen. This is how I was taught to work with our Mother Earth.
Back to the story...
David mows the lawn again. No more mushrooms and then...
They come back again. This time they span the entire front porch width!
Mental note to self...you are going mental!
I spoke a Native American elder today and asked her about the mushrooms. I had to know if there was any lore about them. Could the underworld be talking to me? (The underworld is not evil to these indigenous people as in some religious beliefs; it is a mirror of the upper world - the Earth) Is it a sign? I didn't get an answer from the universe on my own. She laughed. She told me that it is a Fairy Ring. It means blessings on your home, change and transformation. It's always growth. Some people fear growth, because it means change. It's truly about learning to surrender to the change. You accept the change and grow through levels of higher consciousness.
She asked if there were any young (maybe pre-teenish) girls that I know. She
told me to talk to one and find a stump in my yard (I just happen to have a big
one in the back...) and make a Fairy garden on it with her. It will give us
ideas of how to restore the earth mother again. And it reminds young girls that
there is more to the world than what we see. It fosters her imagination and it
could be the key, which unlocks something magical when she becomes an adult that
is not offered in her home. Then, she suggested I buy a fairy book and gift it
to her.
Anyhow, wanted to share this with you all. Don't forget about the
fairies in your area and talk to them remembering the innocence of your own
imaginations as little girls. I do.
Blessings to you and yours,
Joanne

Are you ready to see the pictures and decide for yourself? (Your decision NOW is probably "this woman is CRAZY"!)

I got some pictures and later saw our neighbor and her friend picking apples next door. I told them about the mushrooms and asked them to help make a "FairyLand" on a stump in the back yard. I gave them pointers on using natural things and ideas like "they'll need something to sleep on", etc. and then they took off with it, without needing anymore of my suggestions, and were in my back yard for THREE HOURS, each one making their own on a separate stump. (In case your wondering, I had her get her mother's permission first.)

See what they came up with! The pictures did not pick up all of the little details. It would have been nice to see a before and after picture or each stump. Notice the teeny-tiny strawberries (they grow wild and are bitter) for food and the onion grass! Clever little girls.

If I were a Fairy - I'd be camping out right there! Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks to Jennifer and her friend Lauren!

Joanne

Made my own magnets

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:06:00 +0000

Necessity is the mother of invention...

So, I am moving my office again. I have moved it several times over the last few years into makeshift offices around the house. From an upstairs room to the dining room for a while to the living room to the kitchen and I am finally getting myself staged again back at square one in the upstairs room a.k.a. "the purple room" because of the color of the walls.

I ~~like~~ need my office to be organized so I can find things easily when I need them, so that things I use frequently are within arms reach, and it must have an overall appealing feel/mood where I can stand to be there for more than 10 minutes at a time because there is not a lot of clutter! Order is part of what keeps me happy :-).

I moved a marker/magnet board onto a wall that a friend was discarding (we each bought one at the same time from Ikea). I could not, for the life of me, find magnets that I liked. Must be apealling remember? I have to look at them everyday afterall!

So, I start getting the idea that I will have to make my own! Now to find the perfect thing! Not too fussy, yet whimsical and cute, and easy on the eyes. Maybe something inspiring.

I knew I could start with those regular old round magnets you can get at the store shaped like discs and affix something to them. I've been using those in my basement workroom for a couple of years (boring). It just so happens, while I was at JoAnn Etc., I saw these wooden buttons near the scrapbook section and everything clicked. Here is what I did:

Bought the buttons and the magnets.

2. Put a bead of hot glue on the magnet and be sure the rough side of the wood is affixed to the glue.

3. Keep gluing until you get them all done and remove any stringy glue hanging off of them.

4. Use an archival/scrapbooking fine marker to mark inspirational words or sayings that make you smile. (*Note: don't use an extra-fine tip sharpie! As you can see on the bottom of my "simplify" one - it bleeds!) Here are my finished magnets! They make me feel good because they are hand-made, one-of-a-kind and the words have meaning to me because I chose what they say!

Hope your inspired! Send me pics of your magnets!

NOW is as good a time as any

joanne@schleier.us (Joanne) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:56:00 +0000

I kept waiting for something exciting to write about for my first post. Then I realized that I might be waiting a really long time for that perfect story! I wanted to sort of have a formal beginning to my blog.

What the heck - if I don't write anything at all then I'll never get started with any posts so what's the point?!?! Besides, NOW is the only time we've got!

It is raining today. A perfect time to stay inside and reflect. Actually, I just love writing. I have been writing for a long time. I am not one of those "diarists" or "journalists" because I have never forced myself to be consistent. I just write when there is something to write about. That way, if I miss a day I don't beat myself up or feel guilty because I didn't get to it.

If you are interested in writing, then just go for it. You can write about what you do, think, feel, historical or newsworthy events that have an impact on you, places you've traveled, foods you enjoy, a person you know, a book you're reading, school, work, hobbies...anything. You just have to do it. My greatest tip though, is to start your page off with writing the date. Sometimes it's nice to look back on something you wrote 10 years ago and it says "day of the week, month, day, year".

But don't say that I didn't warn you about falling in love with styles, patterns and textures of papers, journals, and pens! It becomes a creative outlet and is most relaxing. The greatest part is getting to reminisce and sometimes see how you have become a totally different person than you used to be. I encourage you to start today. You have nothing to lose. Whether it is private and personal or something to share, there are rewards!