Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Ann Arbor District Library

This past Friday, November 10th I had the pleasure of speaking at the Ann Arbor District Library's All Staff Day. I was so impressed not just by the facilities at the downtown library, but also by the friendliness and professionalism of the staff (the lunch was great too). What a great group of people! Thank You!!!

Come to find out, I appeared on the Library's blog yesterday. Check out blogger "Sancho Panza's" comments from 11/14/06 under the title "Mission: Organization".

This blogger also recommends a new book by Martha Stewart that was published in October. As much as I like to make jokes about Martha, her books are generally quite informative (just tone down the recommendations to real life). I have yet to see her latest, but I will be sure to take a peek at my local public library. At $45 I recommend the library over purchasing the book.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Organizing on TV

While I find the various organizing shows on TV quite entertaining, this form of reality TV is far from reality in my opinion. I believe these shows set an unrealistic expectation of both the organizing process (or journey as I like to call it) and of working with a professional organizer or organizing consultant.

I recently learned from fellow NAPO members that an episode of HGTV's Mission Organization can take anywhere from 80 to 120 hours to complete. That is a far cry from the 30 minutes we see on television!

This morning I had the pleasure to speak to the Saline MOPS group, where I mentioned the above fact. One of the women in attendance has a family member that has appeared on an organizing show. She reported that through the "magic of TV" her family members were told to make their house look messier prior to the first filming. So much for reality!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

November Newsletter

Many of you may receive my monthly e-newsletter (to sign up click here).

The November edition was sent out this morning and included information on my upcoming seminars, tips for Thanksgiving planning and clutter-free gift ideas. I have a correction for November. I incorrectly stated that Thanksgiving is four weeks away, when actually it is three weeks away! Apologies for any confusion this might have caused.

In addition, my friend Carol Hoffer, shared with me some more tips on clutter-free gifts. Carol doesn't always recommend lotions or candles. Her daughter-in-law (a massage therapist) ended up with over 40 bottles of lotions as a result of gifts received!

Carol suggested books of stamps instead (my husband and I loved the PhotoStamps we made of our dog!). For those keeping Kosher Carol recommends Wolferman's English Muffins. Evidently, Ann Arbor's Zingerman's bread isn't Kosher.