By Barbara Hemphill
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Family, friends, good food – and no presents to buy. To make it your best holiday ever, consider these organizing tips:
• Choose your preferred style: formal with everyone dressed up and using their best manners – or a more informal relaxed style. If you’ve invited more people than your dining table will seat, decide whether to add extra tables or a set up a buffet and use couches and occasional chairs for seating. Arrange for extra chairs if necessary.
• Keep in mind the ages of the people involved – and choose a time for the meal that will fit their needs – young children may get too tired if you wait to sit down at 1:00 pm. Consider seating for children based on ages. Teenagers might enjoy the day more seated together.
• Ask guests to identify their favorite dish – include as many of them as possible. (If someone wants a pecan pie, and you don’t like to bake them, check out your local restaurant or bakery.) Don’t assume you have to do everything – why not invite guests to bring a favorite dish? (Or ask them to bring a table centerpiece or bottle of wine.)
• Plan your menu well in advance, make a shopping list, and purchase non-perishables at the same time you do your regular shopping. If you’re planning to use a fresh turkey, place your order early.
• Get out the table linens before Thanksgiving morning – make sure you have the sizes you need, and check to see if they need to be laundered, or ironed.
• Select table decorations. If you have children, involve them in the planning and execution of the celebration. (My children loved to make turkey cookies!) Consider disposable Thanksgiving napkins.
• To save clean-up time, or if the family china is insufficient to accommodate the guest list, attractive holiday disposable tableware is a viable option. Be sure you have enough serving dishes and utensils for the quantities you will be serving.
• If you’re having a sit-down dinner, consider setting your table the day before to minimize last-minute stress. Make a checklist of things to be done on Thanksgiving day in order or priority.
• Determine your clean-up strategy prior to dinner. Do you want everyone to chip in and help – or would you prefer to spend the time with the family – and clean it up when they’re gone?
• When the day is over, make notes about anything you wish you had done differently – file your notes away for next year, and give Thanksgiving for another special day.
h2>About the Author
© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barbara_Hemphill
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November 01 2008 | Celebration and Fullfill Your Dreams | No Comments »
In her article ‘Multidimensional retirement planning’ independent writer Linda Stern recommends at Reuters.com:
“Having enough money is crucial for a comfortable retirement; having a lot of money is not. With 401k balances in the dumpster, this might be a good time to look at the other dimensions of retirement planning. Researchers say there are specific and measurable non-financial assets that folks should bring with them into retirement: Items like an exercise habit, connection to a religious community, and a good sense of self.”
“Self-awareness is highly predictive of success in retirement,” says Bill Bryan of Next Dance, a company that offers pre-retirement psychological testing and coaching. The factors that most affect how a person adapts and enjoys his retirement:
1. attitude toward aging
2. commitment to society
3. self-awareness.”
A detailed checklist is offered to help you think about how little you actually have to spend in dollars to achieve each of the items:
- Knowing yourself.
- Being on the same page as your partner.
- A volunteer gig.
- Connections.
- Health and strength.
- The knowledge that change is the only constant.
Source: Reuters.com
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April 19 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
By Suz Daykin
50th wedding anniversary planning can be a bit stressful! 50 years of making friends and family can mean that there would be lots of people to invite and the expectation of a great party as well as a big mixture of ages can add to the pressure. Not that I am trying to put you off! If you plan your anniversary party then there will be no need to panic.
You first need to think about the type of party that your golden couple would enjoy. My aunt and uncle had a big party, organised as a wedding, complete with dancing but my grandparents enjoyed a family meal at one of their favourite restaurants. Which would they enjoy?
When you have worked out if you are inviting everyone or just family you will have a rough idea of numbers. You will now need to find the venue! Look at local hotels and function facilities, get menu samples, bar prices and if not included, the room hire. Also ask around, a local community hall could be just what you are looking for in space and also facilities. A number of community centres have their own kitchen and just ask that you clear up afterwards. This could save you a fortune. If the couple are members of a local social club or golf club they may have membership discounts to hire the room, plus this is a venue known to them and the service would be great, you may even get a few extras.
When you are looking around any of the possible venues think about the size of the room - is everyone going to be seated at tables. The location - is it easy to find for your guests that are travelling, is there overnight accommodation if needed? And the decor - would you need to spend lots to make the room look nice?
When you have all the information, the next stage in your 50th wedding anniversary planning is to collate all of the facts; prices, sizes, ease, minimum numbers etc. We find the best way to do this is to have all of the information on a spreadsheet so that you can compare apples with apples. When you have made your decision you will need pay a deposit to the venue to secure the date, and make sure you read the contract!
Now that the venue is booked you will need to organise invitations and possibly accommodation. It would be a good idea to contact local hotels for prices so that you could include a list of possible places that your guests could stay in the invitation. Don’t get involved in booking accommodation, let your guests do that otherwise you may find that this will take up most of your time. Get your guests to reply with any special dietary requirements
Discuss catering with the venue or with the caterer when you have your replies so that they have all the details of children’s meals or special needs. You will need to confirm numbers a couple of weeks before the party - check with your venue as to what is best.
Organise any decor - it could be flowers, balloons, candles and either book with the decor company or get your volunteers ready! You may want to get into the venue the night before to get everything in place. Make sure your venue knows this as they may have another function on.
If you want to have a special 50th anniversary cake then you will need to book this with a baker in advance, some people have replicas of their wedding cake or the wedding cake they always wanted, others will have fun cakes that show off their personality.
Venue booked, invitations sent and received back, numbers confirmed, decorations done, cake ready at bakers, all that is left is to have a great 50th anniversary party!
Suz Daykin is the Editor of Anniversary Gifts By Year, the complete guide for anniversary gift ideas and how to organise great anniversary parties.
More 50th Anniversary Ideas Here
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April 04 2008 | Celebration and Life Planning and Love and Marriage | No Comments »
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