are you "holidazed"?

Feeling a little dazed from all your holiday activities? Try some of these tips for the holidays and I think you'll have a more memorable end to your year.

7 Holiday Tips

1.   Get a head-start on gifts. I always try to shop throughout the year, and some years I do better than others. But having gifts purchased ahead of time (shopping online is great for this, too) enables me to wander through stores and enjoy the hustle and bustle without getting trampled by it. Or I can avoid the stores altogether. Ahhh.

2.   Set up a special calendar for the month of December. This is especially helpful for the next couple of weeks. I consolidate all of my party invites and activities (not forgetting the Evites, mandatory office parties and word-of-mouth stuff) and put them on one calendar so I can plot what I can fit in and what I can't. I also schedule things like baking, shopping, trips to the post office and other unexpected time-thieves.

3.   Take one commitment at a time. The last thing I want is to enter 2011 not remembering what I did at the end of 2010. When I sit down with a friend for coffee, I will look her in the eye and pay attention to what she's saying. When I open gifts with my family, I will be there and enjoy their reactions. When I attend a Christmas service, I will belt out every carol and reflect on the message.

4.   Ditch my iPhone. This is tied to number three. Christmas is not the time to have divided attention, so I will leave my phone off or unattended whenever possible. I don't need to check e-mail constantly, nor do I need to keep tabs on every friend's vacation via texting.

5.   Spend a bit of time each evening in front of my tree. There's a reason I bought that thing and labored to set it up in the stand, decorate it and water it every day. Just winding down each evening in my dark living room with only the light of the tree often prompts me to spend some necessary time in prayer and reflection.

6.   Keep an advent calendar. This is a fun, "anchoring" thing for me to do. It reminds me of my childhood, and provides a little glimpse of the anticipation of advent as I wait to open a door each morning and see the Christmas story unfold.       

7.   Plan meaningful conversations. Throughout the season, I try to say something encouraging or "real" to as many people as possible. We exchange any number of pleasantries at Christmas, but I want people to know that I'm interested in them. And some folks I only see at Christmas. So I use the time to ask them about their year, open a spiritual conversation or tell them how much they mean to me. It's an exercise in intentionality that has never disappointed.

Tips taken from the Boundless Webzine Editor.

theJob clients appreciated

Last year my company held two client appreciation events: Lawn Bowling and our own version of the Antique Road Show. Boss1 also took many clients out for a round of golf at various times. This year instead of taking individual clients out for a round of golf which would have my bosses out golfing everyday of the summer!, we held a golf event at StoneRidge Golf Club. This event has a hefty price tag and since we're still recovering from the market's nosedive, we did a little extra prep-work and got 5 vendors/wholesalers to foot most of the bill.

This really was an easy event to coordinate. I'm going to vote we do this again! Especially since we had vendors pick up the tab. The vendors also gave us most of the golf-paraphernalia (tees, balls, shirts, jackets, duffel bags, etc.) to use for prizes!

Here are a few pics from the event and a little description of the pics:

61 clients & guests joined Boss1& Boss2 and Advisor1 on the greens of StoneRidge Golf Club for an enjoyable round of golf and delicious buffet luncheon. The storm clouds went around the course on the north and the south, but not a drop of rain fell! Everyone had a great time, especially those who won tickets to the PGA championship at Hazeltine! Many, many other prizes were handed out as well. Boss1& Boss2 and Advisor1 enjoyed talking with the clients and meeting their guests. All-in-all, a great day to golf!

25 random things

this was a fad a while back on Facebook. I started the list but never finished it...

1. I love lists! I love to add items just to cross them off!


2. I enjoy reading blogs and wish I would blog more.


3. In the 8th grade I said I was going to be a writer when I grew up.


4. I prefer cold drinks to hot.


5. I love the smell of coffee, but don't drink the stuff--regardless of peer/family pressure!


6. I'm a procrastinator. I need lists, people, or time crunch to motivate me.


7. I'm a perfectionist, kind of.


8. I'm non-artistic in drawing but sometimes have a spark of creativity with decorating, cooking, and computer stuff.


9. I would love to be on a home decorating show as the organizer expert but maybe should get my own stuff organized first! It was much easier to be organized when I didn't have anything!


10. I decided I'm a "visual learner" when most of my friends in college were learning about the concept in their teaching classes.


11. I spent 3 years on Guam and have albums full of great memories.


12. I travelled to Australia, Hawaii, Japan and three other islands (Rota, Tinian and Saipan) during my Guam years.


13. I sing in a group called Deo Cantamus to broaden my horizons and keep me challenged musically.


14. I wish I had a family of my own but don't dwell on it much.


15. I spend time with my niece and nephews playing cars and barbies, coloring, and wiping up drool, etc. (Maybe that's the reason for #14...)


16. I try not to read books or watch movies that I've already read or seen but sometimes I don't remember that I've read or seen it until I'm already into the book or movie.


17. I'm learning a lot at my job. It's challenging and frustrating to be learning all the time. Just when I think I've got something down, a different something comes up that I have to learn. Isn't that life!?! EDIT: I don't seem to be learning much at work lately. Maybe I've reached a plateau or maybe it's just a slow time...


18. I'm moving May 16th to an one-bedroom apartment. I'm excited to live "on my own" again!


19. I'm going to miss cooking for Jess, but I'm sure she and Luke won't mind coming over for dinner once-in-a-while :)


20. I've never liked a movie I saw on an airplane. (Unfortunately I saw several on the 13-hour flights from the US to Japan.)

in boxes and such

Just a few things I like and a few things I've read lately...

• This blog post about having a physical InBox feeds my inner-organizer. I'm not even sure how I stumbled on this blog, but he's also got interesting things to say here about not checking email all day long. I'm not totally cured yet, but I like the idea and think it will help with my productivity. So for now, I'm just working on checking it less.
• This lazy guy has some investing info that is food for thought about his recent investment reality. I've learned a little about saving money and other stuff from him. You should add him to your Google Reader.
• For the first time I did my own taxes this year. I learned a little and enjoyed it a lot.
• Due to my recent interest in taxes and such, this guy at No Debt Plan has some more thoughts on saving money.
• I wish I could make bread like this lady. I've really only tried once, or maybe twice, to make yeast bread without a bread machine. It wasn't pretty so, of course, I gave up. (I can't wait to try some, warm oatmeal bread that should be done in about 2 hrs and 47 min!).

Hope you enjoyed these links! Now, what are you reading these days?