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Posts Tagged ‘Fast’

  1. Did You Guess?

    January 26, 2012 by Sharplisa

    It came from here.

     

    Category LEAN for Your Life | Tags: ,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  2. Tuesday Updates

    January 24, 2012 by Sharplisa

    I have no excuse for not blogging yesterday so I am sorry.  I owe you updates on a few things.

    20 Minute Decluttering:  I mastered my craft room.  It took a lot more than 20 minutes and it still looks kind of junky because of my set up and it’s location.  My creative space is in an unfinished basement adjacent to the boys’ play areas.  In fact, it is centered between them.  This can be… complicating.

    So, without further ado, here are some after pictures of Saturday’s work:

    This area is a cutting table, the bags underneath are fabric pieces as are the four totes at the end of my bookcase.  See what I mean about it still looking kind of dumpy despite being mostly orderly?  My sewing machine is in the rolling case underneath the table.

    This piece I hope will be next week’s make it Monday.  I have great plans for this $10 coffee table.  In the background is my major work station.  More on that soon.  The bookcase is cluttered, I know, with my professional library, my crafting books and my cricut cartridges.  I will be moving some cartridges to the Jukebox which will help but I need to be honest with myself about the pro gear.  Soon.  It’s just too soon.

    This is a better view of the main work area.  It is big enough for two to make cards or scrapbook pages and whatnot.  The Cricut, Sizzix and laminator are readily available as are the Xyron machines.  As an aside, I think the Xyron machine is the greatest invention ever.  It spoils me for other adhesives.

    My desk.  Ready and waiting for rubber stamping.  On the baker’s rack in the background are scrapbooks to be filled, WIP projects, 12×12 paper and foam.  On top are Sizzix dies.
    This represents the bulk of my miscellaneous storage.  The tall dresser even has the drawers labeled.  The shorter, wider dresser is full of randomness:  bubble wrap, stuff I am still learning how to use, crayons, wrapping paper…  It’s kind of scary, but I know what’s there and where to find it.  Extra Xyron cartridges are in the third drawer.  Ink pads in the rack on the top and the two boxes are ribbon.  I went back down to pick the paper pad up off the floor.  (MY KIDS!)

    The remaining storage area.  Four totes on the end are fabric, on the near end is paper, embellishments, knitting magazines and a handful of in-progress scrapbooks.  Do I like how it looks?  Not really, but having it organized allows me to get some of that stuff used up.

    So let me ask you a question.  As you can see, we have an unfinished basement.  We could certainly finish it with paneling or sheetrock, but it would be at our expense and, since we live in military housing, the ROI is negative by the  cost to finish it. So what can I do?  What would you do?  Leave me a comment and share your thoughts and we can come back to it on Friday, okay?

    Next up, the Make it Monday update.  I did tweet it last night, but if you don’t follow me on twitter, you’ll feel cheated that you didn’t get it.  I did finish a knitting project.  After lamenting that it takes me SO LONG to get one done, I now will admit that I just don’t spend enough time on it.  I will knit a few row and put it down when my ADD kicks in and I want to play video games.  So this project, that would take a serious knitter an afternoon, took me a couple weeks. It is knitted in garter stitch, seamed and gathered.  I enhanced the pattern by knitting a band to cover the cinched part, not wrapping yarn.  I didn’t like the look of it.  Using yarn and needles I had so it fits into my stash busting goals as well.  Also, the model is adorable, right?

    I also want to thank the lovely Sarah for delighting me with one of her projects this week.  Her blog is showing tremendous potential because her Pinterest addiction is worse than my own.    Look at what she sent me!

    So once again, loyal readers, what should I do about my basement walls?  Would you take on the paneling or drywall costs yourself?  Another option I thought of was to get bedsheets at goodwill and just cover the walls.  It would be random, yes, but with a bit of fabric paint and a stamp or stencil, kind of funky?  HELP!

    Category LEAN for Your Life | Tags: ,,,,,, | No Comments

  3. Make it Monday – Hacks and Helpful Hints

    January 17, 2012 by Sharplisa

    I know I’m a day late.  Monday straight up got away from me with the whole UAV to the shop thing and the hunting for my nemesis thing.  So I’m sorry.  I know that all six of my readers are forgiving souls who will just appreciate the advice I’m going to throw down here.  I didn’t get anything non-edible made this week, so I thought I’d share some of my edible food tips with you.

    What I did make last week (much to my boss’ dismay) was homemade soup and french bread.  My french bread is almost always fabulous and I use a recipe out of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 15th Edition (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid).   This is my go-to “cookbook for idiots” (any cookbook with a recipe for fried eggs falls into this category).  I have used it for years and replaced it at least twice.  The french bread recipe is simple:  Flour, yeast, water, salt, egg wash.  I won’t steal it from the book and type it here, sorry.

    If you normally fail at bread,  odds are it is your yeast.  Remember yeast is alive.  In the jar it is in a dormant state that you awaken with heat.  If the liquid you add is too hot, you’ll kill the yeast.  Too cold, you won’t wake it up and your bread won’t rise.  Use a thermometer to make sure the liquid is no hotter than 130 degrees and at least 120.  Yeast can also get old and stop working.  Like me.

    Take care not to add too much flour (the reason every recipe lists a range is that the amount of flour is contingent on humidity) or your bread will be hard and dry.  It should be sticky to the touch but not so much that it still sticks to your fingers.  Err on the side of slightly sticky fingers if you must.

    Another failure mode in bread making is kneading.  If you don’t knead the bread enough, it will not be successful.  Follow the guidelines in your recipe to the letter until you’ve mastered the “feel” of bread:  Soft, light and slightly sticky.  Make sure you are patient with the rises as well.  It will help to use a straight-sided vessel to know for sure the dough has doubled.  An old plastic ice cream pail washed carefully is perfect.

    My two hacks for you today involve cake.  A dear friend is a professional baker and suggests adding a small pack of pudding to a box cake mix.  I have tried it and the result is a cake that is much moister and more flavorful than the mix would have been without adding pudding.  For a simple, wonderful dessert, frost it with pudding too.  Poke holes in the finished cake with a wooden spoon and pour the pudding carefully and evenly over the top.  Refrigerate and serve.  Fabulous and, I daresay, healthier than frosting since pudding is made with milk and most frostings have some sort of fat as a primary ingredient.

    A second trick is even easier and makes a great, moist cake lower in calories and fat than the original version.  Instead of adding eggs, oil and water as indicated on the mix box, add a 12 oz. can of soda pop.  Combinations worthy of consideration are any type of chocolate and cherry coke (or diet cherry coke, dr. pepper, etc.), white cake with fruit-flavored sodas, and (the boys’ favorite) yellow cake with root beer.  Your options are unlimited.  My family likes it so well that no frosting is necessary, but fat free cool whip would be nice and you could dress it up with fruit, chocolate shavings or whatever strikes your fancy.

    These are go-to, proven tips in my house.  I hope you enjoy them and forgive me that they are a day late.  If you try them, let me know! Leave me some comment love :)

    Also don’t forget you can say thank you and win $120 (and counting) gift card for Amazon from my friends at Grammarly, the world’s best grammar checker.  The deadline is January 31!

     

    Category LEAN for Your Life | Tags: ,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  4. 18 Minutes – a Book Review

    January 16, 2012 by Sharplisa

    It is rare that I read a book cover to cover in one sitting but that is exactly how I spent yesterday morning and afternoon.  For the past few years I have struggled mightily with finding my purpose and staying motivated to do the things I feel like I should be doing.  This book, with a title including the words “Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done” struck a chord.  I downloaded a trial and then put down my coin for the full kindle version.  I am glad I did.  In case you’re curious, since starting this post 20 minutes ago, I have “made my move” in Words with Friends, researched a financial issue and e-mailed my bank about it and read some totally mindless “this is news?” stories.  Focus is a huge, huge problem.  Why?

    Well, this book hits the nail on the head for me.  If you follow me on Twitter, then you know that I was tweeting quotes from the book all day yesterday.  Here’s an example:

    “To home in on your passion, think about what you love doing—what’s important enough to you that you’re willing to persist over the year, even when it feels like you’re not succeeding at it.”

    What does that mean to you?  How would you change your life to do that?  Peter Bregman asks you to define the most important areas of your life – personally and professionally – and use those to filter where you spend the majority of your time.  95% of your day, he says, should be spent in areas where you’ve chosen to focus your energy.  Basically, your work should support your goals.  The other 5% of your day is for non-related tasks.  Today, for example, I spent the morning getting the tires replaced on my urban assault vehicle.  It doesn’t support my short-term or long-term goals in any other than maintaining my vehicle in safe, operable condition, but it is necessary.  The ratios may ebb and flow day-to-day, but at the end of the week, you should be close.

    A light went on for me as I read these words.  I have a terrible time focusing because “Why Bother”?  I have not had measurable success in any area of my life since I can’t remember when. (Oh look! It’s my turn in Words With Friends)  All this moving means that whenever I get traction, the Army pulls the plug.  Bye job!  Bye Friends!  And I’m starting to think I’ll have to pay people to talk to me in real life and on my blog.  So. Maddening.

    Here I am now:  forty-something, my BMI nearly matches my age, I have kids who are driving me nuts and for the last few months, a job I don’t feel like I’m particularly good at.  In fact, I think I am horrible.  I am quite bored, lonely and our social calendar is consistently empty unless we try to throw a party.  Which we normally do marginally well (meaning we can get a few people to show up and all have fun).  But I am still working on what/ who I want to be when I grow up.

    So here are the five areas I want to focus on in 2012:

    1.  Fix our financial situation.   Saving money, of course, but there are other important things I have to do.  I’ve been avoiding them because they are painful and frustrating.  My husband has entrusted me to be the primary steward of our financial future and supports my efforts 100%.  Now is the time we right the ship so we can sail smoothly into retirement in six years.

    2.  Stimulate creativity.  I’ve posted about this before, but I to spend more time being creative and be more fearless with my creative efforts.

    3.  De-clutter and get back to the basics.  Build experiences not material wealth.

    4. Be healthy.  Eat well.  Exercise.  Connect.   I know that I am a people person.  I need to have more contact with people outside of my home.  Look for opportunities to support and connect with people both in person and online.  Volunteer more time and less money.

    5.  Strengthen and improve my online presence.  I have another blog with great potential that is languishing.  That must stop.

    Disclaimer:  Clicking on the image above and buying the book might make me a little money because I am an Amazon Associate.  

    I appreciate it.

    Category LEAN for Your Life, Product Reviews | Tags: ,,, | No Comments

  5. Keep or Repurpose Volume 1

    January 14, 2012 by Sharplisa

    Pay no attention to the laundry the kids need to put away.  I have a serious question.  I haven’t gotten the goodwill box gone yet, but these were in it.  Do I toss them or repurpose and sell them.  I have chalkboard contact paper I could cover the glass with and make a memo board or menu board.  Or I have white erase contact paper.  Or I could put some pretty scrapbook paper in the frame and make a dry-erase board as well.

    So do I keep them in the GWB (Good Will Box) or repurpose them?

    Toss or Repurpose Volume 1

    • Scrapbook paper in the frame memo board (100%, 1 Votes)
    • Send 'em to Goodwill! (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Make Chalkboard Memo board (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Make Whiteboard Memo board (0%, 0 Votes)

    Total Voters: 1

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    None of the options requires a cash investment of any kind.  Estimated time to complete is approximately 10 minutes per frame.

     

    If you have other ideas, let me know in the comments!

    Category LEAN for Your Life | Tags: ,,,,, | No Comments

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