New Year, New Something

So you’ve probably already blown the resolutions you swore you were going to keep this new year (I know — so cynical) but here are some simple things you can do that you might not have thought of, to really clear some of the cobwebs out of your life.

Go through your fridge and chuck everything that’s expired. I did this on Sunday and in a few short minutes got rid of four bottles of salad dressing and two things of mustard, all of which apparently went south sometime in 2009. Get rid of it! And with less stuff in your fridge, you can take the time to wipe the shelves down with a Clorox cloth and leave the insides sparkling fresh and sanitized.

Check your coupons and throw out all that are no longer valid. I don’t even clip coupons because I never get a physical newspaper (all online reading for me), yet I have a bunch of coupons. Many manufacturers have them expire at the end of a year, meaning that most of your leftover coupons probably belong in the trash. Clean them out!

You know those socks and underwear you have with holes in them? See ya! What are you waiting for? Do what I’ve been doing — wear them one last time and then that night, throw them in the garbage. There’s no need to launder them — no one wants them. Just dispose. Repeat for your kids as well, unless you think you’ll take up darning in the near future.

Your medicine cabinet has feelings too. As in, feelings that you’ve been ignoring it. And now the Neosporin, Benadryl, Cortaid and Tylenol are all ineffective because they’re past their expiration date. So good luck to you if you happen to need them. In other words, clean and replace what’s needed, and give yourself peace of mind.

There’s more we could suggest but we’ll stick with that for now. Something tells me if you accomplish all of that, you’ll feel pretty good!

Late night — and primetime — intrigue

Are you following the NBC late night saga? Apparently Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon all have a week to respond to the network’s proposal. And Conan isn’t happy, since moving his show to 12:05 is a demotion. Apparently he is mulling over three options (any of which I think we’d all like to have): take a four year vacation and collect (reportedly) $20 million per year; take a job somewhere else (i.e. Fox) and NBC would have to make up any difference in salary; or continue to do his show at 12:05 for presumably the same money. Me thinks he’ll take door #2, but let’s see. Door #1 sounds awfully awesome to me! (sigh)

Speaking of Fox, they’ve got their own drama going on as Simon Cowell has announced he’ll exit American Idol to start on the American version of the British X Factor when it comes to Fox in 2011. (X Factor discovered Susan Boyle, for point of reference.) Rumors are that Paula Abdul will join him on the new show, which would be kind of funny. What evil genius will they hire to replace him on Idol? Stay tuned, as they say…

Etc.

I’m already up past my bedtime and have ruined my experiment. I wanted to try and go to bed by 10pm every night this week and see if I can function any better. I did it last night but already on night number two I have blown it. i did feel good today and I had about 8 hours of sleep last night. No such luck tonight!

So with that I bid you good night!

Just 3 Things

Sometimes life can seem overwhelming, with day to day responsibilities from work, life and kids filling every nook and cranny of waking hours (and even some of the sleeping ones, too). So from time to time I’ll do a new feature, “Just 3 Things.” These will be simple tips and ideas for slowing down, having fun and generally finding ways to enhance life. Here we go:

1. Meet someone for tea. Pick an afternoon, call a friend and treat yourself to mini sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and tiny pastries. If you’re near a major city, many fancier hotels offer it, or sometimes some Brits set up shop (Tea and Sympathy in the Village is a good one in NYC). Or go to the bakery, buy something delicious, put the kettle on and invite someone over. Great conversation, tasty treats and relaxing for an hour — what could be bad?

2. Clean out a closet. Or a drawer. Sometimes organization can just clear out your head. So just pick one closet or even a drawer and start putting stuff into piles: to keep, to donate and to pass on to someone. You’ll feel somehow more streamlined.

3. Call an old friend. In this day of email and Facebook and Linked In and every other cool (and by that I mean cold and impersonal) technology, actually talking to someone is a novel concept. But we all have that person that we love to gab and laugh with. So pick up the phone — in 30 minutes you’ll feel infinitely more connected to the world.

Air Force Two

We arrived in Phoenix just about the same time as President Obama…our little cousins went to take pictures of themselves with his plane.

Whoever’s in town, we’re just glad it’s WARM!