Archives for 2012

2012 Year-in-Review Top 10 List Countdown: Post #10

December 22, 2012 by Tracy

2012 Quick Tip Week: Butter Bread Before Toasting

Originally posted by Tracy on May 10, 2012

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Our week of quick tips is over halfway complete.

If you missed any of the four quick tips from this week, you can click on these links:

#1 – Designated space for “to be filed” paperwork,

#2 – Use disinfecting wipes for quick cleanings,

#3 – Keep your brainstorming notes, and

#4 – Power off your phone.

The fifth tip comes from my children’s food preferences.

Quick Tip #5: Butter Bread before Toasting

In teaching my children to eat the entire slice of bread, including the crust, I have learned to keep the crust soft.

When bread gets toasted, the hard crust makes eating difficult. With their little mouths, my children enjoy soft bread with melted butter.

To keep the crust soft and still get a light toast to the bread, I butter the bread before toasting in my toaster oven. The butter keeps the entire slice of bread soft, and my children willingly eat the entire piece of bread.

This little tip helps to save our family money since my children are receiving the nutrients from the entire slice of bread without wasting food.

In using time wisely, I butter bread before toasting. By eating the entire slice, my children do not need extra slices which saves me money, energy, and time.

As you feed your picky children, who do not like the hard crust on toast, butter bread before toasting. If your children are like mine, then they may eat the entire slice which will save you money, energy, and time. Happy savings!

Question: Do your children eat the entire slice of toast?

2012 Update Week: Goals for December – Choose Contentment

December 12, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

Happy 12/12/12! I could not allow update week to zoom by without addressing the unusual date along with my 2012 goals. You have watched my successes and failures this year with my established goals, and I love bringing this update on a special day.

Finishing 2012, I am amazed at the progress made on the goals that I thought were attainable for me on paper. Some goals surprised me with ease while others are not going to beat me. 😉

In completing this year, I present my last update to my 2012 goals. The following is my overview of my November goals as I continue the progress throughout December.

Physical

Drink 4 glasses of water per day. I’m still struggling with this goal, especially on the weekends. Going from sips of water to a minimum of 3 per day thrills me. I am continuing on to master that 4^th glass.

Eat breakfast each morning. Done!

Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. In making exercise a priority, I took a fast-paced walk through our neighborhood on Sunday afternoon as the rest of the family took a nap. I walk as often as possible, but I still struggle.

Family

Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished!

Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Done!

Allow children to help with a household task each week. They continue to help, especially when a game, tool, or reward is included. My son is enjoying rinsing the dishes after meals. Didn’t realize he would love this task so much. 🙂

Financial

Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. As I continue to count my blessings to remind me of what I don’t deserve, my focus turns from my immediate concerns to contentment.

Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. We are planning to redecorate the girls’ room in spring, so this goal is on hold.

Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. Looks like this goal might get accomplished before the end of the year.

Business

Write posts one week in advance. Not happening. However, I’m excited at the progress made in scheduling which saves me time. Sometimes it is a blessing to post on-time. I’m happy that all post are now current! 🙂

Make one improvement to the blog this month. Added some affiliate relationships, but no visible progress this month.

Read two chapters of blog book each month. No progress this month. My reading these days consist of 2^nd grade and kindergarten material. 🙂

Though my progress may seem small, all these baby steps equal a giant step toward my final destination. Don’t be surprised when some of these same goals remain for 2013. This process is stretching me, and I’m thrilled to keep on learning and improving.

As you continue this month on finishing 2012, end strong. Happy sprinting to the finish line on 12/12/12!

Question: How are your goals coming along?

2012 Update Week: Fall Festival

December 11, 2012 by Tracy

Since most of my summer and fall focused on coordinating the KidZone at our Fall Festival, I felt it time to give you an update of the event.

Though KidZone itself ran smoothly, the process was not without incident. In using time wisely for a successful event, I planned, executed, and adjusted.

Planning the Fall Festival

Having coordinated for two years now, I used my prior year’s information and started with the framework, filled in the space, and chose reliable volunteers.

The Framework

Upon contacting the vendors and deciding on the number of spaces needed for the event, I rearranged the areas considering noise, electrical connections, and curb appeal. With bounce houses and generators, we are talking about a lot of noise. In consideration of our vendors, I worked to fit them in without overpowering them with constant sounds.

Without power on the field, some of the vendors and performers needed electricity. Keeping those areas near a generator limited the amount of cords scattered throughout the event.

The curb appeal focused on attracting the attention of drivers, who may see our event and stop by. This year, I had a giant slide, bounce house, pony rides, and hayride visible from the main road. Though I am not sure how many saw these attractions, we had around 1700 attendees at our event.

Filling the Spaces

Assigning spaces and discovering what each vendor needed, I put together a master supply list, including items from tape to generators. Anything I might have needed was added to the list.

I also worked with our live performers regarding the schedule and addressing their concerns. This year, we had 2 stage areas: main stage in the center and preschool stage to the side. Both areas were very well attended.

Staffing the Event

Though the process for volunteers changed this year, I ended up with the best combination available. I am very protective of my workers, and they do not disappoint. I appreciated their promptness, energy, and time. My setup help saved the day as I needed assistance throughout the event, and they came to the rescue.

Executing the Fall Festival

Setup went lickety-split this year. The crew of volunteers came ready to work, and we finished our preparations early. The first-shift helpers worked hard until the transition.

When the second-shift volunteers arrived, they jumped right in. We had fewer workers, but all areas were covered. The issues from the first shift were resolved, and second shift ran more smoothly through the end of the event.

Clean up was a breeze. I kept all the KidZone items out on the field. We sorted and returned items without any confusion between zones. It was great! I missed my son’s soccer game, but I was not exhausted and utterly worn out this year.

Having a setup schedule, event schedule, and clean up schedule solved most of the issues that occurred last year. Thankfully, I learned from my mistakes, and this year was a grand success netting our school over $12,000.

Adjusting at the Fall Festival

The new issues that arose this year included a falling bounce house. A fuse blew in one of our borrowed generators. Thankfully, a setup helper came to the rescue. He immediately detected the issue, and he rerouted the power. We tried to get power from another generator, but it blew a fuse as well before realizing that the blower to the bounce house was the problem.

After a quick call, the bounce house owner brought a replacement blower, but our generators were not operating at full power. We ended up taking down a donated basketball/soccer combo unit which worked out just fine.

Another small bump in the road was the late arrival of the majority of our second-shift volunteers. The first-shirt workers stayed though some were inconvenienced. I appreciated all their help, and let them go as soon as I could.

With these small adjustments, the day went just as planned. It was a great day. My parents came to help, and I could not have survived without them. They walked around with my kids enjoying all the stations. I took a break and went with them on the hayride which was my favorite part of the day.

In using time wisely to organize our Fall Festival, I planned, executed, and then adjusted. Working from the successes last year, I laid the foundation, tweaked the format, and enjoyed raising money for our school through the KidZone. Happy relaxing!

Question: What type of events did you plan in 2012?

2012 Update Week: Yard Work

December 10, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Welcome to Update Week! During this week, I will follow-up on topics introduced throughout the year. Each day, I will choose one topic from that category. For today, I chose our yard work update.

Back in May and June, I posted about our spring yard work. Though we finished later than planned, I have been able to keep up the weeding.

When I wrote the last post, we had completed our side bed and under our tree. I still had 2 more beds to complete.

For some reason, I can only find the pictures of the one bed. I’m almost positive I took pictures, but I cannot find them. Oh well, here’s an update to the one bed as we cleared it out.

With the yard work complete, I only needed to nip the weeds before our Halloween party.

In November when Paul cleaned out our garage, my son raked our leaves in the front yard. The kids were playing in the little pile of leave before collecting them in the trash bags. Seeing the fun they were having with a few leaves, I took them after school to a field with a huge leaf pile. They had a blast!

This morning, I snagged a few more weeds, and then took a picture. (Our Christmas net lights are on, but I’m not sure you can tell.) With our yard work up-to-date, our home has a clean look within our neighborhood. Keeping the weeds at bay has been worth our time and energy.

As you continue your yard work, take it one area at a time. My kids enjoy helping as they get to wear their own gloves. Giving them a tool encourages them to help which saves me energy and time. Happy weeding!

Question: How is your yard work coming along?

2012 Update Week: Identity Theft

December 9, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Fotolia

Welcome to Update Week! During this week, I will follow-up on topics introduced throughout the year.

Each day, I will choose one topic from that category. For today, I chose our identity theft update.

Back in October, I mentioned how our family was the victim of identity theft. Though we are super careful with our credit card information, passwords, and personal information, we are not exempt from a hacker obtaining our information.

Our Initial Identity Theft

On a Saturday morning, I awoke to a phone call from Walmart.com asking if I had made a $200+ purchase that morning. When I denied the charges, the representative confirmed the suspicious activity as someone had opened a new Walmart.com account using another name.

The thief back-linked to the credit card I use when making purchases at Walmart.com. (The credit card was not saved in the system. It was just linked to a prior purchase.)

Gathered Information

Upon getting the information from the representative, I took wrote down the details, canceled that order, and denied the charges to our credit card.

Notified Credit Card Company

Next, I called our credit card company, reported the fraud, and checked for any other suspicious activity. When none was found, the representative closed our account immediately. She sent our information to the fraud department who transferred our account to a new number and reissued the cards.

Notified Other Account Providers

Staying proactive, I checked our other credit card and placed an alert on the card. I then checked our bank accounts. Seeing no unusual transactions, I called our credit unions and placed alerts on all our accounts.

Filed Police Report

By this point in the morning, I was wide awake. Though still in my pajamas, I called the police department to file an identity theft report. Since the information must be gathered in person, two police officers were dispatched to our home. I quickly changed, and then reported the morning’s activities.

The officers were really nice, and my girls loved the attention from the female officers. Confirming that we covered all our bases, they took the information and gave me a report number. I was then advised to pick up the police report at headquarters after waiting a minimum of 48-hours for processing.

Changed Password on Account

Shortly after the morning calmed down, I accessed my Walmart.com account and changed my password. Though I am not sure how the thief got access, I chose to change what I could to protect my account.

Filing a Claim

With the police report in hand, I plan to contact Walmart.com with the report number and file a claim to track down the thief. This process takes time, and I am pressing on. My goal is to find the culprit (if possible) and file charges.

Since this initial compromise, I have had an identity theft attempt and a breach which I will share in 2013. We are actively keeping watch on our accounts and staying proactive in the process. Though this thief has not been caught, I am working to provide as much information as I can to the authorities to bring down these criminals.

In using time wisely to act on the information immediately, no additional issues have surfaced with this account. We now have our transferred account with our new cards. Everyone has been very helpful which has saved us money, energy, and time.

Should you find your information compromised, act quickly. Gather the information, notify your credit card and other account providers, file a police report, change your password (if needed), and file a claim. Though we cannot prevent all criminals, we can make it difficult for them to get the information. Staying alert with you!

Question: Have you been a victim of identity theft?

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